68 MEKOPID^ . MELITTOPHAGUS 



Description. Adult male. — General colour above, bright green, 

 wing-quills, including the wing-coverts, scapulars and inner 

 secondaries, pale chestnut tipped with black, the tips becoming 

 more marked towards the inner feathers of the wing ; central pair 

 of tail-feathers green like the back, the others pale chestnut with 

 well-marked subterminal black spots and ashy-green tips ; a narrow 

 eyebrow cobalt-blue, ear-coverts black ; chin and throat yellow, 

 separated from a broad black chest band by a narrow line of blue, 

 the black band is margined behind by chestnut, which pales on the 

 rest of the lower surface into an orange-fawn colour ; under wing- 

 and tail-coverts pale fawn. 



Iris crimson in adults, hazel in young ; bill black ; legs and 

 feet dusky. 



Length about 6-40; wing 3-10; tail 2-50; culmen 0-85 ; 

 tarsus 0-35. 



The female resembles the male in colour but is a little smaller, 

 wing 2*90. A young bird is without the blue eyebrow or the black 

 and blue throat bands, and the breast and upper abdomen are pale 

 green. 



Distribution. — The Little Bee-Eater has not been obtained within 

 the boundaries of the Colony, but is common in Natal, the Trans- 

 vaal, Portuguese east Africa, Ehodesia, northern Bechuanaland, 

 and Ovampoland, and is a resident throughout the year. Beyond 

 our limits it ranges through Angola to the lower Congo, to Uganda, 

 Nyasaland, and German east Africa. In west and north-east x\frica 

 it is replaced by closely allied species. 



Localities in South Africa are : Natal — Durban, Pinetown, 

 Newcastle (Brit. Mus.), Eshowe, and Ulundi (Woodward) ; Trans- 

 vaal — Lydenburg (Francis, S. A. Mus.), Pretoria (Distant), Rusten- 

 burg and Limpopo river (Ayres) ; Bechuanaland — Lake Ngami 

 (Andersson), Kanye (Exton) ; Rhodesia — Tati (Oates), Semokwe 

 river (Buckley), Quae Quae river (Ayres), Salisbury district 

 (Marshall) ; German south-west Africa — Okavango river (Ander- 

 sson) ; Portuguese east Africa — Beira district (Cavendish), Tete 

 (Kirk). 



Habits. — The Little Bee-Eater is generally found in small com- 

 panies of from three to five individuals, and is seldom or never very 

 far from water. They generally perch on the outer twigs of low 

 bushes, or on reeds, whence they make frequent excursions after 

 passing insects, returning at once to their resting places, resembling 

 much in this respect the Spotted Flycatcher; they very seldom hawk 



