MEROPS. 473 



without any nest or lining, they lay from 4 to 6 eggs, pure and glossy white, 

 almost spherical, varying in length from 0*82 to 0^92 inch, and in breadth 

 from 0'72 to cr8i inch. 



1102. MeropS per SiC US, Pall., Rets. App. p. 708 ; Zoogr. Ros. 

 As. i. p. 440 ; De F. Viag. in Pers. p. 346. M. ^Egyptius, Forskahl, Desc. 

 del Egypt, p. i ; Jerd., B. Ind. p. 210 ; Murray, Vert. Zool. Sind. p. 108. 

 The PERSIAN BEE-EATER. 



Distinguished from M. viridis and M. phillipinus by a narrow yellowish 

 white line on the forehead, edged by another pale blue one, which continues 

 over the eye as a supercilium ; a white line edged with blue from the gape 

 running below the streak through the eye ; chin yellow ; throat deep chestnut. 



Length. 12 inches ; wing 6; tail 3'25 



Hal. Throughout Asia Minor, Beloochistan, Persia, Arabia, Egypt, Africa, 

 East and South Europe, and India. In Sind and the Punjab, common. 



1103. MeropS apiaster, Linn., P. E. 938; Naum. vogt.t. 143; 

 Lev. Guep. t. 1, 2 ; Jerd., B. Ind. p. 210, No. 121 ; Hume, Str. F. vol. vii. 

 P'453; Blanford, Eastern Persia, ii. p. 122; Murray, Hdbk., Zool., $r., 

 Sind. p. 127 ; id., Vert. Zool. Sind. p. 109. The EUROPEAN BEE-EATER. 



Top of head rich chestnut brown, also the neck, upper back, wing 

 coverts and secondaries ; forehead dull white, passing into pale verdigris 

 green ; chin and throat bright yellow ; a bluish black streak from the base of 

 the bill through the eye descending to a narrow black ring, which encircles the 

 neck. Primaries narrow and pointed, dusky on the inner webs, fine greenish 

 blue on the outer, the tips and shafts black ; secondaries also tipped black;' 

 tertiaries blue green ; larger and lesser under wing coverts fawn colour ; lower 

 back yellow, tinged with chestnut and green ; tail greenish blue or dull green, 

 the two middle feathers darker, tipped blackish, and elongated beyond the 

 rest ; upper tail coverts bluish green, with a yellowish tinge ; breast and lower 

 parts greenish blue ; under tail coverts pale blue. Bill black, long and' curved, 

 and with a strong blunt ridge ; legs reddish brown ; claws reddish black. 

 The plumage of the female is less bright; the central tail feathers shorter than 

 in the male. 



Length. 10 to ii inches; wing 575; tail 3*75. 



Hab. Europe, N. and W. Africa, Palestine, Arabia, Egypt, Cashmere, 

 Persia, Beloochistan, Afghanistan, and Asia Minor. In India it occurs as a 

 bird of passage in the Punjab, N.-W. Provinces, Sind, Kutch, Kattiawar, Raj- 

 putana, and the Deccan. Colonel St. John (Zoology of Eastern Persia) 

 remarks, that it is common throughout the summer in Persia at 2,500 to 6,OOO 

 feet elevation, breeding in company with sparrows, pigeons and rollers. 



