BLUE-BELLIED BEE-EATER. 81 



specimens. One of these, formerly in Bullock's 

 Museum, and alluded to by Dr. Latham, is now in 

 our possession. As Senegal has been mentioned, 

 without any doubt, as its native country, we include 

 it in our list; although not one specimen, as we 

 have been assured, was among the hundreds of 

 birds recently imported from that province. 



This splendid bird is at once recognized by its 

 bright crimson throat, and azure blue belly and 

 tail-covers. Its size is much smaller than that of 

 the common bee- eater, although it is larger than 

 M. erythropterus. The upper plumage is of the 

 usual parrot-green, except the superior part of the 

 neck, which is light cinnamon or ferruginous, the 

 margins of which blend in and harmonize with the 

 surrounding green ; there is an almost imperceptible 

 shade of blue close to the nostrils, and the tip of the 

 chin is of as deep a black as the eye-stripe and 

 ears ; the rest of the chin and the half of the throat 

 in front is of a bright scarlet red, while the sides of 

 the neck, the breast, and the whole of the body and 

 flanks is of a cinnamon brown, similar to the upper 

 neck ; the belly, vent, and under tail-covers, are of 

 a clear vivid ultramarine blue without any mixture 

 of green. The first quill-feather is half as long as 

 the second, a remarkable deviation from the typical 

 structure, while the third only is the longest; the 

 wings are green, but the lesser quills are tipt with 

 deep velvet-black for about half an inch, the black 

 having an edging of blue very conspicuous but not 

 defined; the tail is auite even, and the feathers 



