60 MEROPID^E. 



Merops viridis, Linn. The Green Bee-eater. 



Merops viridis, Linn., Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 205 ; Hume, Rough 

 Draft N. $ E. no. 117. 



The Green Bee-eater breeds pretty well all over India and 

 Burma, though less commonly in damp low-lying localities, such 

 as Orissa and Eastern Bengal. It lays from three to five eggs 

 during the latter half of March, in April, May, and even the first 

 week of June. It breeds par preference in sandy banks or cliffs, 

 but I have found its nest in an old mud wall, and again once 

 close to Ahmedabad in GKizerat in a perfectly level nearly barren 

 plain. Mr. Adam, whose experience had then lain chiefly in the 

 North-Western Provinces and Oudh, formerly remarked : " This 

 species breeds about the end of March, April, and May ; they 

 build in holes in the ground, generally preferring the perpendicular 

 face of a nullah, cutting or embankment, although I have some- 

 times found them making use of a knoll which kept the opening 

 of the nest above the surface water which might collect on the 

 surrounding ground. I have often watched them digging out the 

 earth with their bills, when they commenced their nests, and 

 scraping it away with their claws. I have always seen them 

 commence a fresh excavation and never known them to make use 

 of an old hole. The opening of the nest is circular, about 1| 

 inch diameter and cleanly cut. The length of the passage varies 

 from 1| foot to 5 feet, and it increases in width from the entrance 

 to the egg-cavity, which is about 3| inches in width. From the 

 entrance, to the nest, the passage usually declines at an angle of 

 about 30. The excavation is carried on very quickly, and when a 

 piece of stone or kunkur impedes the straight line a detour is 

 made, and the excavation carried on until a sufficient depth is 

 reached. The eggs are laid on the bare ground. Five is the 

 greatest number found in one nest, but three or four are common 

 numbers. In one or two instances the eggs taken from the same 

 nest have presented very different degrees of incubation." 



Later, writing from Sambhur after some years' residence in 

 Bajpootana, he tells us : " This bird commences to build here 

 towards the end of March. Although, as a rule, it prefers to 

 build in a bank, I have taken its nest on level ground. The nest 

 is generally about 3 feet deep. I have seen them nearly 6 feet, 

 and the egg-cavity is a long oval with the major axis about 5 or 6 

 inches ; it is without any lining ; the angle of the decline from the 

 opening to the nest is about 30. In some nests which I have dug 

 out, a piece of kunkur or stone has caused the bird to diverge at 

 right angles from the straight line, and then follow the same angle 

 until a sufficient depth has been reached. I have found as many 

 as seven eggs in one nest, although four or five is the normal 

 number, and I have repeatedly found the young birds in the most 

 various stages of plumage, i. e., one all but fledged, and the youngest 

 covered with down. On several occasions I have found frogs 

 occupying the egg-cavity of these nests." 



