CHAPTER XII 



BEE-EATERS, ROLLERS, AND DRONGOS 



"Nor hawked the merops, though the butterflies, 

 Crimson and blue and amber, flitted thick 

 Around his perch." Ihe Light of Asia. 



" Decked with diverse plumes, like painted jayes." 



The Faerie Queene. 



THE common Indian bee-eaters, Merops vimdis, 1 are, 

 as a rule, only temporary residents of the neighbour- 

 hood of Calcutta. Their autumnal return, from the 

 wonderful regularity with which it occurs, forms an 

 emphatic reminder of the flight of time a reminder, 

 however, that has no unpleasant flavour about it, 

 seeing that it is an announcement that winter is 

 about to arrive, and bring with it nimble air and 

 relative coolness in exchange for the stagnant heat 

 of the latter part of the rainy season. From a 

 record of the dates of its occurrence during a period 

 of eight years, it appears that it took place five 

 times in the second week, once on the fourth day, 

 once on the seventh day, and once in the third 

 week of October ; and from a much more extended 



1 They are of nearly the same length as a song-thrush, but are slenderly 



built. 



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