84 GREEN-THROATED BEE-EATER. 



throat, and breast, pea-green, glossed with yellow, 

 except that part which margins the hlack ears, which 

 is the only part of the plumage which has any shade 

 of blue, and even here it is very slight. The green, 

 in short, of the chin, throat, breast, and body, is 

 uniform, and this appears to be the distinction of 

 the species. In the middle of the throat, just abo^ 

 the breast, is a narrow transverse stripe of th 

 deepest velvet black. The ears and eye-stripe, as 

 usual, is also black; the quills and their covers 

 inside are rufous, the former with broad black tips. 

 The tail is even, except the two middle feathers, 

 which project in filaments one inch and a half 

 beyond the others. 



We are not without suspicion that the figure 

 at PL Enl. is intended for this bird, but it is clearly 

 not a representation of the indicus of Edwards. 



Total length, excluding the two middle tail- 

 feathers, . 7 inches ; bill, from the front, 1 ; wings, 

 3 T 6 5 ; lateral tail-feathers, 3. 



VAR. Another specimen we possess, whose lo- 

 cality is unknown, merely differs from the above in 

 having the fulvous yellow tinge much stronger over 

 the whole of the head, neck, and part of the back ; 

 it is also somewhat smaller, as the bill measures, 

 from the front, T 8 , and the wings, 3/Q. In other 

 respects, and in colour, the two birds perfectly agree, 

 except that the two middle tail-feathers, in this, 

 project 2^ inches beyond the others, instead of onty 

 1^ ; this, however, may be the effect of age. 



