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MEROPID i. 319 
Family MEROPID®, or BEE-EATERS 
The Bee-eaters and their close allies the Rollers are associated by 
Sclater with the Kingfishers and the Hoopoes; but Forbes included them 
in a group with the Owls and the Goatsuckers. The posterior margin of 
the sternum of the Bee-eaters and Rollers has two notches on each side, 
as is also found in the Kingfishers and Woodpeckers. In Huxley’s classi- 
fication, based primarily on the cranial bones, the Bee-eaters and Rollers 
are associated with the Hoopoes, the Kingfishers, and the Cuckoos, in a 
different group to that which contains the Swifts, the Woodpeckers, and 
the Goatsuckers. Nitzsch places the Bee-eaters and Rollers between the 
Goatsuckers and the Cuckoos ; and in their myology and digestive organs 
they are said to be very nearly allied to the Goatsuckers. . 
The Bee-eaters and Rollers only moult once in the year, in late 
autumn, 
The most conspicuous external character of the Bee-eaters and the 
Rollers is their metallic blue and green plumage frequently associated 
with chestnut. Except in their small feet, scutellated hind tarsi, and 
more pointed wings, the general appearance is very similar to that of the 
Corvine, the Bee-eaters resembling the Choughs in the shape of the bill 
and the Rollers that of the typical Crows in this respect. The wing con- 
tains ten primaries, the first primary being long in the Rollers and very 
small in the Bee-eaters, and the tail consists of twelve feathers. 
There are about twenty Rollers and thirty-five Bee-eaters, making fifty- 
five species in the Family of Meropidee. They are confined to the Old 
World; but are absent from the Arctic regions, New Zealand, and the 
Pacific Islands. One species of each group breeds in Europe, both of 
which are rare stragglers to our islands. 
Genus MEROPS. 
The genus Merops was recognized by Linneus in the 12th edition of his 
‘Systema Nature,’ i. p. 182, published in 1766. M. apiaster (the Apiaster 
apiaster of Brisson) is the type. 
The Bee-eaters may be distinguished by their long pointed wings and 
very minute bastard primary. The tail is also long and the two ceutre 
