MEROPS APIASTER 53 



on the crown ; remainder of the crown, nape and mantle, glossy rich chestnut- 

 brown ; back, scapulars and rump glossy brownish-yellow, tinged with 

 green ; upper tail-coverts and tail green, the two central rectrices projecting 

 nearly an inch beyond the others ; primaries greenish-blue, fringed on inner 

 webs with blackish ; outer secondaries chestnut, fringed with blackish, inner 

 secondaries green ; least wing-coverts green, greater wing-coverts chestnut ; 

 a stripe from the base of the bill, eye-region and ear-coverts black; chin 

 and upper throat golden-yellow, becoming whitish below the ear-coverts ; 

 a narrow black band immediately below the yellow throat ; rest of the under- 

 parts glossy greenish-blue, the former colour predominating above, and the 

 latter below, and becoming very pale blue on the crissum and under tail- 

 coverts. 



Iris deep crimson ; bill black ; feet brown. 



Total length 10 inches, wing 6, culmen 1-50, tarsus 45. 



Adult female similar to the male, but rather duller in colouring, and 

 with a lighter black throat-band. 



Young birds have the upper part entirely greenish, and have no black 

 throat-band. 



Like the preceding species, the Bee-eater is exceedingly abundant 

 throughout the Tunisian Regency as a summer migrant, arriving in 

 spring, and leaving again for the south on the approach of autumn. 

 The earliest date on which I have met witl) the species in Tunisia 

 has Ijeen March 7th, when I observed a flock of these birds flying 

 over the Gafsa oasis. So early a date is, perhaps exceptional, as the 

 bulk of the migrants do not arrive until April, and in North Tunisia 

 many do not appear until May. It is of course not unnatural that 

 the southern oases should be visited by these birds some time before 

 the districts north of the Atlas. 



Throughout Algeria and Marocco the Bee-eater is as common in 

 spring and summer as it is in Tunisia. In Egypt and probably 

 throughout North-east Africa generally, the species is abundant on 

 migration, although not so common as M. persicus, and apparently, 

 comparatively few of the birds breed in that country. Like the 

 Roller, the present species winters in South Africa, and ranges north 

 throughout a great part of Europe, as also in Asia. 



During the height of the spring passage, Bee-eaters positively 

 swarm in some parts of Tunisia. At Gafsa, I have sometimes seen 

 the birds all over the town and oasis, flying low down, and actually 

 hawking for insects in the streets like Swallows. In Sicily, where 

 Bee-eaters are also very common during the spring migration, I have 

 never found the birds so fearless and confiding, but rather the contrary. 



