60 MEROPID^ 



MEROPS 



Merops aegyptius, ForsTt. Descr. Anim. Aves, p. 1 (1775) ; Layard, 

 B. S. Afr. p. 69 (1867) ; Gurney, Ibis, 1868, p. 154. 



Merops savignii, Audouin, Expl. Somm. p. 371 (1825) ; Gurney, Ibis, 

 1861, p. 132 [Natal] ; Kirk, Ibis, 1864, p. 324 [Zambesi] ; Layard, 

 B. 8. Afr. p. 69 (1867) ; Holub & Pelz. Om. Sild-Afri'kas, p. 65 

 (1882). 



Merops superciliosus (nee Linn.), Gurney in Andersson's B. Daniara- 

 land, p. 61 (1872) ; Sharpe, ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. pp. 97, 804 

 (1875-84) ; Barratt, Ibis, 1876, p. 197 [Vaal B.] ; Gates, Matabele- 

 land, p. 301 (1881). 



Description. Adult male. General colour above, bright green, 

 a few white frontal feathers ; wings like the back, outer wing-coverts 

 bluish, the quills olive-green with black tips ; tail olive-green, the 

 two centre feathers elongated and narrowed to a point and black ; 

 lores, feathers round the eye and ear-coverts black, above this the 

 eyebrow, and below the cheeks cobalt-blue : below, the chin is 

 yellow, the throat chestnut, the rest of the lower surface green ; 

 under wing-coverts and under side of the quills and axillaries pale 

 chestnut. 



Iris crimson ; bill black ; legs and feet dark brown. 



Length to outer tail-feathers 1O5 ; wing 6*1 ; tail 3-7 ; to tips 

 of central tail-feathers 6-0 ; culmen 1-70 ; tarsus 0-50. 



The female resembles the male ; the young bird is paler and less 

 brightly coloured and is without the elongated central tail-feathers. 



Distribution. This bird like the European Bee-Eater also 

 appears to he migratory, spending the northern summer and breed- 

 ing in south-western Asia as far as Turkestan and the north-west 

 provinces of India and being occasionally found in southern Europe. 

 During the northern winter it is found throughout Africa, from 

 Egypt to Cape Colony. Although by no means common it appears 

 to be widely spread throughout our area between November and 

 April. The following are recorded localities : Cape Colony Cape 

 div. Febr. (Layard), Griqualand West, Febr. (Holub) ; Natal 

 Durban (Brit. Mus.), Illovo, near Durban (Woodward) ; Transvaal 

 Vaal river near Potchefstroom (Ayres) ; Ehodesia Hendriks 

 Vley, near Pandamatenka, December (Gates) ; German south-west 

 Africa Ondonga, November, December (Andersson) ; Portuguese 

 east Africa Tete (Kirk). 



Habits. These Bee-Eaters are large in size and appear, unless 

 seen close and in certain lights, dull in colour. They may be often 

 observed perched on reed-tops ; like the European Bee-Eater, they 

 hawk for insects on the wing and do not, like the Little Bee-Eater, 



