94 MEROPID 2%. 
THE CoMMON INDIAN BEE-EATER. 
Hurvial, Hin. 
Length, including centre tail-feathers, 8:5; expanse, 10; wing, 
35; tail, 4; tarsus, 0°36; bill at gape, 1:3; bill at front, 1; the 
centre tail feathers exceed the others by 1:25 to 2°5 inches. 
Bill black ; irides blood-red ; feet plumbeous, 
Plumage, above bright grass-green ; the head, nape, and hind 
neck burnished with golden; a black eye-streak from the 
base of the bill through the eye to the top of the ear-coverts ; 
quills with a reddish tinge, especially on the inner web, and all 
tipped dusky; tail duller green, the webs dusky at their inner 
edge; the two central tail-feathers elongated; chin and throat 
verdigris-green, and a black collar on the top of the breast ; the 
rest of the lower parts bright green, mixed with verdigris, paler and 
more ccerulescent on the lower abdomen, and under tail-coverts. 
The Common Indian Bee-eater occurs abundantly throughout the 
district ; it is a permanent resident, breeding during April and May. 
They usually excavate holes in sand banks or earthy clifts, 
but occasionally make them in level ground; these holes vary 
in depth from 14 to 5 feet, according to the nature of the soil ; 
the eggs, four or five in number (more rarely six), are spherical 
in shape, white in color and are highly glossy when fresh, but as 
incubation proceeds the gloss disappears and they become dead 
white ; they measure 0°78 in length by about 0°7 in breadth. 
Merops philippinus, Zin. 
118.—Merops philippensis, Lin.—Jerdon’s Birds of India, Vol. 
I, p. 207; Butler, Guzerat ; Stray Feathers, Vol. III, p. 456; 
Deccan, Stray Feathers, Vol, IX, p. 381; Murray’s Vertebrate 
Zoology of Sind, p. 108, 
THE BLUE-TAILED BEE-EATER. 
Length, 12 to 12°55; wing 5:25; tail, 5°75; tarsus, 0°5; bill 
at front, 1°6. 
Bill black; irides crimson; feet plumbeous. 
Head, neck, back, wing-coverts, and tertiaries dull grass-green, 
with more or less rufous gloss; rump and upper tail-coverts 
bright azure-blue; a black eye-streak from the base of both 
mandibles to the end of the ear-coverts, with a pale blue line 
beneath ; quills dull green-rufous towards the edge of the inner 
webs, and black tipped; tail dull blue; chin yellow-white ; throat 
dark ferruginous, extending to the sides of the face and neck as 
far as the end of the ear-coverts; breast and upper abdomen 
green, glossed with rufous; lower abdomen and vent paler, and 
with a blue tinge and the under tail-coverts pale blue; the 
tail is nearly even, with the centre pair of feathers elongate and 
the pair next them slightly shorter. 
The Blue-tailed Bee-eater occurs sparingly throughout the 
greater portion of our district. 
