1CEROPIIXE. 



MEROriD.K. 



780 



must admit that in respect to these particulars there is a manifest 

 distinction between them. Independently however of the general 

 characters in which both families approach each other, such as the 

 breadth of the rictus of the bill, the snort and feeble legs, the strength 

 of the wing, and the consequent habit of using that member chiefly in 

 seeking their support, a gradual approximation u found to take place even 

 in their bills ; those of some of the extreme species of Mrropi becoming 

 shorter as they approach Jlirvndo ; while those of some of the 

 latter group partially desert their own type, and by degrees assume 

 tbe lengthened form of the bill of the Bee-Eaters. The tail of iferopi 

 again is equally found to desert the typical characters of the group, 

 namely, tbe greater length of the two middle feathers, in order to 

 rvei - DM spa . -. t:.-n -ii-iitly forked, and ai li-n^tli to ! 

 identified with the fully-forked tail of Jlirtatdo. Mr. Vigors is further 

 of opinion that among the Ttnuirottrei the genus Promtropi approaches 

 nearest to the fiasirostral group by means of Mtropi, the curved bill 

 of which approaches the structure of its own. (Vigors, ' On the 

 Natural Affinities that connect the Orders and Families of Birds,' 

 in ' Linn. Trans,,' vol. XT.) 



Hr. Swainson ('Classification of Birds') is of opinion that the 

 Meropida, or Bee-Eaters, succeed the Swallows, and says of the 

 Mrropi Apiatter [BEE-EiTEB], that it annually visits Italy in Socks of 

 30 or 80, and may be seen skimming over the vineyards and olive- 

 plantations with a flight much resembling the swallow, though more 

 direct and less rapid. He observes that their bill U indeed consider- 

 ably longer and more slender, but remarks that this difference is 

 softened down by the intervention of the genus Euryitomui, containing 

 the Swallow-Rollers of India, Africa, and Australia, which have this 

 organ very short. To these, he thinks, succeed the true Rollers 

 (Coraeiai, Linn.), which arrive in Italy at the same time with the Bee- 

 Eaten, and associate also in small flocks. "These two genera of 

 Roller*," continues Mr. Swainson, " are so indissolubly united, that 

 nothing but the strongest prejudice in favour of a preconceived theory 

 could ever have induced certain naturalists (whose labours in other 

 respects have been of much advantage to science) to have placed them 

 in two different orders. The whole structure of the Rollers, their 

 lengthened pointed wings, and their firm and often forked toil, at 

 once induce the idea that they feed upon the wing ; while their very 

 short legs, scarcely longer than their hind toe, might have shown their 

 incapacity to alight and walk, like the Crows, upon the ground ; but 

 this question is at once decided by a knowledge of their economy, 

 which, from personal observation, we have every reason to believe is 

 much like that of the Bee-Eaters. The intervention of the Rollers at 

 once IcBscnn the abrupt transition, which would otherwise be apparent, 

 from the perfect-footed Swallows to the zygodactyle Bee-Eaters ; and 

 we are thus prepared for all those birds whose toes, as it were, are 

 soldered together, like those of the Meropida. Here perhaps we may 

 notice that most beautiful and rare genus Kyctiornit, or Night-Feeder, 

 aa being in all probability that particular link by which nature con- 

 nects this family with the Trogont, thereby uniting tbe three aberrant 

 groan of the fiairoitrei into one primary circle. M. Temminck, 

 overlooking its particular structure, placed this genus with Meropi, to 

 which indeed it has a close resemblance; while its connection to 

 1'rionita (Illiger) in other parts of its organisation is no leas obvious. 

 Its precise situation in short requires further investigation." [H AI.- 

 CTOSIDJB; MKLIPUAGID.E.] 



Mr. Swainson gives the following character as distinguishing the 

 family : 



Wings long, pointed ; the first quill as long, or nearly so, as any of 

 the others. 



He arranges the following genera under it : 

 Afarofx (Linn,). BUI very long, slender, slightly curved, compressed ; 

 the oilmen carinatod ; the tip entire, sharp, and not bent downward. 

 Wings long, pointed ; the tips of the lesser quills emarginate. Tail 

 lengthened. Feet gressorial. (Sw.) 

 M. apuuter [BM-EATKB] is an example. 



Kyctionii (Sw.). Bill considerably curved, very long ; the culinen 

 with a parallel groove on each side. Wings rounded, convex. Plumage 

 lax. Feet short, insessorial, resembling those of Prionitei. (Sw.) 



.V. amiftui is green; crown (in the adult) lilac; front of the 

 throat and breast bright red. (Sw.) Total length about 13 inches; 

 wings S J inches ; tail (beyond) 3 inches ; tarsi hardly half an inch. 

 (8w.) 



It is a native of India. 



Coraeiai (Linn.) Bill moderate, straight; the sides broad, but 

 much compressed. The tip of the upper mandible bent over that of 

 the lower, which is obliquely truncate; nostrils batal, oblique, linear ; 

 gape very wide, extending beneath the eye ; the sides bristled. Feet 

 insessorial, very short ; all the toes cleft to their base ; inner toe much 

 the shortest Wings moderate, pointed. (Sw.) 



C. Abfuinica has white round the bill ; body aquamarine-green ; 

 back and wing-coverts cinnamon-colour ; shoulders, rump, and quills 

 blue ; tail green, the two middle feathers blue ; two long loose pro- 

 cesses terminating the two external quills. 



Bub-genus, J-^ryHomta (VieilL). It resembles Coraciai, but the bill 

 to shorter and wider, and the wings longer ; nostrils very long ; rictus 

 smooth. (Sw.) 

 S. Orititlalii. Colour aquamarine-green ; throat and point of the 





JV'ye/iornu amir/us. Swainson. 



Coracial Abyitinira. 



wing (fouet de 1'aile) azure ; quills and tail-feathers block ; a wliito 

 stripe upon tbe wing. 



It is a native of Java, South Australia, and all the Polynesian 

 Inlands. It is the Natay-Kin of the natives of the neighbourhood of 

 Sydney ; Dollar-Bird of the colonists ; and Tiong-ba-tu of the inhabit- 

 ants of Sumatra. It is the Coraciai Orienlalii of Linnaeus. 



Chloropygia (Sw.). General form between Tamacia and Coraeiai. 

 Bill short ; the tip not abruptly bent ; rictus bristled ; nostrils basal, 

 linear, oblique. Wings, short, convex, reaching only to the rump ; 

 the two first quills much graduated ; the four next nearly equal and 

 longest. Tail elongated, rounded, and broad. Feet as in Coraeiai. 



The species are natives of Madagascar. (Swainson.) 



C. Leptonmvt (Lesson ; III., ' Zoo].,' pi. 22) is an example. 



tfptotomui (Vieill.). Bill about the length of the head, robust; 

 the upper mandible curved and notched near the tip ; gonys straight ; 

 nostrils oblong, oblique, the margins elevated, naked, and placed 

 towards the middle of the upper mandible. Feet short; toes in pairs, 

 as in Tamatia, Wings lengthened, pointed ; the first and second quills 

 longest. Tail moderate, even. (Sw.) 



L. riridii is a native of the country of the Kaffirs and the coast of 

 Zanzibar, where it is said to live in the forests on insects and fruits. 



