Recently published Ornithological Works. 617 



As is well known to readers of ' The Ibis/ Sir Harry- 

 Johnston, when selecting officers for his new government, 

 considered that his staff would not be complete without a 

 representative of science, and took out with him for this post 

 Mr. Alexander Whyte, F.Z.S. Under Sir Harry's directions 

 Mr. Whyte made large collections in every branch of Natural 

 History, and in particular sent home numerous series of 

 birds, which have been described by Capt. Shelley in this 

 Journal. Sir Harry Johnston now gives a complete list of 

 these birds, nearly according to Capt. Shelley's arrangement, 

 and prefaces it with a valuable article, based chiefly on his 

 own observations, on the most noticeable features of the 

 Central- African Ornis. We subjoin Sir Harry's notes on a 

 Bee-eater, which he rightly characterizes as " almost the 

 most gorgeously coloured of living birds ^' : — 



" Notable amongst the Bee-eaters is the lovely Merops 

 natalensis, which is abundant on the river Shire and probably 

 in other low-lying parts of British Central Africa. At Chiromo 

 this bird is present in large numbers, as it nests in holes in 

 the high clay-bank on the spot Avhich divides the river Ruo 

 from the Shire. When I arrived at Chiromo in 1891 to 

 commence the administration of this country I found that 

 these beautiful birds were being shot down in numbers to be 

 skinned and sent home for the decoration of hats. I conse- 

 quently took them under Government protection ; since that 

 time their numbers have greatly increased, and they have 

 become wonderfully tame. It is objected, however, to this 

 favour shown to them that, burrowing into the bank to make 

 holes for the reception of their eggs, they assist the water in 

 flood-time to eat away the clay and so gradually diminish 

 the site of Chiromo. I do not think there is any fear that 

 the Bee-eaters may cause more than the loss of a few feet of 

 clay-cliffs, and the ground they arc thus destroying is a piece 

 of Government land which is retained as a kind of a park. 

 When these Bee-eaters settle on the branches of a bare 

 leafless bush, which they are very fond of doing, the first 

 impression on the passing traveller is that this shrub is 

 covered with gorgeous blue and crimson flowers, till, when 



