340 MANUAL OF PHILIPPINE BIRDS. 
303. MEROPS AMERICANUS P. L. 8S. Miiller.¢ 
ee ae BEEBIRD. 
Merops americanus P. L. S. MULLER, Natursyst. Suppl. (1776), 95; Mc- 
FREGOR and WorcESTER, Hand-List (1906), 56. 
Merops bicolor BoppAERT, Tabl. Pl. Enl. (1783), 15; WaALpEN, Trans. Zool. 
Soc. (1875), 9, 150, pl. 26, fig. 1; SHARPE, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1892), 
17, 60; Hand-List (1900), 2, 73; Oates and 'RiEp, Cat. Birds’ Eggs 
(1903), 3, 49. 
Pe-ric’, Manila; pi-ley pi-ley, Lubang. 
Bohol (McGregor); Cagayancillo (McGregor); Calamianes (Bourns € Wor- 
cester); Catanduanes (Whitehead); Cebu (Everett, Bourns & Worcester, Mc- 
Gregor); Cresta de Gallo (McGregor); Fuga (McGregor); Guimaras (Steere 
Exp.); Leyte (Everett); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Meyer, . Moéllendorff, 
Everett, Steere Bxp., Whitehead, McGregor) ; Marinduque (Steere Exp.) ; Masbate 
(Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Mindanao (Steere, Murray, Everett, Koch & 
Schadenberg, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino, Goodfellow) ; Mindoro 
(Steere Exp., Schmacker, McGregor, Porter); Negros (Meyer, Everett, Steere 
Exzp., Bourns & Worcester) ; Panay (Steere, Bourns & Worcester) ; Samar (Bourns 
& Worcester, Whitehead) ; Semirara (Worcester); Sibuyan (McGregor); Tablas 
(Bourns & Worcester). 
Adult (sexes alike).—Above, from bill to and including mantle .and 
sides of neck, bright chestnut; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts 
clear sky-blue; a band from corner of mouth through eye to ear-coverts 
black, bordered below by sky-blue; below apple-green, lighter posteriorly 
and more or less mixed with blue; under tail-coverts light blue; wings 
and coverts dark green; primaries and secondaries with dusky tips and 
dark ocherous-buff inner webs; long tertials tipped with dark blue; 
tail above dark cerulean-blue, the lateral feathers darker than middle 
pair which are broadly tipped with black; shafts black, tail brown below. 
Iris bright red; bill and nails black; legs dark flesh. Length, including 
long tail-feathers, about 300. Three males from Mariveles, Luzon, meas- 
ure: Wing, 117 to 118; tail, without long feathers, 87; bill from nostril, 
34 to 36. 
“Young.—Differs from the adult in being duller and greener, the red 
of the head being overshaded with green and the mantle and upper 
back green; the under surface is paler, the throat and abdomen pale blue 
and the breast light green.” (Sharpe.) 
““Nest.—Nests in level sandy strips of ground. The tunnel is some 
50 mm. in diameter at its mouth and at first runs sharply downward. 
When a depth of 60 to 90 cm. has been reached it turns and slopes 
gradually upward for 120 to 150 cm. of its length, ending in an enlarged 
chamber in which the eggs are deposited on the bare sand. The eggs 
are pure white and highly polished. They are frequently nearly spherical. 
They vary from 21 to 24 in length by 18 to 20 in breadth. 
“Sometimes feeds singly, but is more usually found in small flocks, 
and at times very large flocks gather, apparently attracted by swarms 
