THE LONG-TAILED BEE-EATERS. 



57 



The food of the Bee-Eater consists entirely of insects, and 

 besides the bees which it devours in such numbers, it also eats 

 quantities of wasps, locusts, and beetles. Its note is a single 

 one, variously rendered by ornithologists as " teerrp " or 

 "quilp." 



Nest. None. A long tunnel is excavated in the ground or 

 in a bank, and the eggs are deposited in a chamber at the end, 

 on the bare soil. 



Eggs- From five to six in number ; pure white, glossy, and 

 nearly round. Axis, 1*05 inch; diam., 0*9. 



II. THE BLUE-TAILED BEE-EATER. MEROPS PHILIPPINUS. 



Merops philippinus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 183 (1787); Saunders, 

 Man. p. 274, note (1889); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 

 xvii. p. 71 (1892). 



Merops philippensis, Hancock, Cat. B. Northumb. p. 28 (1874) ; 

 Newton, ed. Yarr. ii. p. 442, note (1874). 



Adult Male. General colour above green, the mantle and 

 scapulars being of the same colour as the back ; lower back, 

 rump, and upper tail-coverts blue ; no white on the forehead 

 or eyebrow, the former having a narrow line of blue; tail 

 blue ; bill black ; feet blackish ; iris scarlet. Total length, 

 1 1 '3 inches; oilmen, i'8; wing, 5*3; tail, 3*5; middle tail- 

 feathers, 5-0; tarsus, 0-45. 



Adult Female. Similar to the male. Total length, 1 1*5 inches; 

 wing, 5-15. 



Characters. Distinguished from M. apiaster by the green, 

 not chestnut, mantle, the green scapulars, the blue tail, and 

 by the yellow throat being succeeded by a shade of chestnut ; 

 there is also no black band in the fore-neck. 



Range in Great Britain. Has occurred on one occasion near 

 Seaton Carew, in Northumberland, in August, 1862. It is 

 extraordinary that this species should have wandered to Eng- 

 land, but the occurrence is vouched for by Mr. John Hancock, 

 one of the most conscientious ornithologists which this country 

 has ever produced, and must, therefore, be accepted. 



Range outside the British Islands. An Indian species, inhabiting 

 the whole of the Indian Peninsula and Ceylon, and extending 



