182 RUFOUS BEE-EATER. 



crown of the head and upper part of the neck 

 bright red : across the eyes a black streak : all the 

 upper parts of the bird fine green : the throat and 

 under parts yellow, but slightly dashed, from the 

 throat downwards, with red : tail even at the end, 

 and rather short: irides red: bill black; legs brown. 

 Native of Angola. 



RUFOUS BEE-EATER. 



Merops rufus. M. rvfus, subtus rufo-Jlavicans, remigibus fuscis 

 extus rvfis. Lath. ind. orn. 



Rufous Bee-Eater, beneath yellowish rufous, with brown quill- 

 feathers rufous on the edges. 



Le Fournier de Buenos Ayres. Buff. ois. PI. Enl. 739. 



Rufous Bee-Eater. Lath. syn. 



DESCRIBEP by Commerson : length about eight 

 inches and a half, colour rufous, deepest on the 

 upper parts, and inclining to pale yellow beneath : 

 the larger quill-feathers brownish : the tail slightly 

 rounded at the end : the bill and legs, according 

 to the Planches Enluminees, yellowish brown. It 

 is observed by BufFon, that as the toes in this spe- 

 cies are not united, as in the rest of the genus, it 

 seems to form as it were a connecting link or shade 

 between the BeeJEaters and the Hoopoes or Pro* 

 jneropes. 



