MEROPID.E 



MEROPS 



57 



FIG. 23. Wing of Merops nubicoides. x |. 



Key of the Species. 



A. Crown chestnut becoming cinnamon on the back M. apiaster, p. 57. 



B. Crown cinnamon-rufous, contrasting with the 



green back M. boehmi, p. 61. 



C. Crown and back alike green M. persicus, p. 59. 



D. Crown verdigris-green ; back cinnamon M. nubicoides, p. 62. 



405. Merops apiaster. European Bee-Eater. 



Merops apiaster, Linn. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. i, p. 182 (1766) ; Burchell, 

 Travels, i, p. 501 (1822) [Griquatown] ; Smith, S. Afr. Quart. 

 Journ. (2) ii, p. 319 (1834) ; Grill, K. Vet. Akad. Handl. Stockholm 

 ii, no. 10, p. 46 (1858) [Oudtshoorn] ; Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 68 

 (1867) ; Gurney, Andersson's B. Damaraland, p. 60 (1872) ; BucJcley, 

 Ibis, 1874, p. 363 [Bamangwato] ; Sharpe, ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. 

 pp. 96, 804 (1875-84) ; Shelley, Ibis, 1875, p. 69 [Durban] ; Oates, 

 Matabeleland, p. 301 (1882) ; Holub #* Pelz. Orn. Siid-AfriJcas, 

 p. 65 (1882) ; Ayres, Ibis, 1884, p. 223 [Eustenburg] ; Dresser, 

 Monogr. Merop. p. 75, pi. 18 (1884); Ayres, Ibis, 1885, p. 242 

 [Potchefstroom] ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xvii, p. 63 (1892) ; Distant, 

 Transvaal, p. 160 (1892) ; Marshall, Ibis, 1896, p. 241 [Salisbury] ; 

 Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. Ill (1896) ; Alexander, Ibis, 1900, p. 97 

 [Zambesi] ; Marshall, ibid. p. 248 [Salisbury]. 



"Berg zwaluw " (i.e., Mountain Swallow) of the Dutch. " Makwirok- 

 wiro of Mashonas (Marshall). 



Descrirjtion. Male. Forehead white, with a yellow tinge, fol- 

 lowed by a yellowish-green shade continuous with an eyebrow of 

 the same colour on either side ; crown and mantle dark chestnut 

 fading into cinnamon on the lower back and rump, green on the 

 upper tail-coverts; the lesser wing-coverts green, the others and 

 the outer secondaries chestnut, the primaries and inner secondaries 

 green, all the quills tipped with black, all the tail-feathers green, 



