THE GREEN BEE-EATER. 65 



quills brownish and edged at their bases with ochraceous ; abdomen, vent, 

 under tail-coverts and sides of the body pale green ; under wing-coverts 

 bright buff; underside of tail bright yellow-buff, broadly tipped with 

 black. 



The female differs in having the forehead and lores the same crimson as 

 the throat, the lilac-rose colour being confined to a mere band across the 

 crown ; the feathers on the eyelids are green, not blue ; the underside of 

 the tail is duller yellow and the black tips shorter ; the crimson on the 

 breast is narrower in extent. 



The young are green throughout. 



Legs and feet pale green, often dingy, sometimes bluish ; bill black, 

 whity brown at base from nostril to gape of upper mandible, and lower 

 mandible from about angle of gonys to base; irides bright yellow to 

 orange-yellow ; eyelids dark plumbeous green. (Davison.) 



Length 13 inches, tail 5*3, wing 5*4, tarsus '6, bill from gape 2'5. The 

 female is slightly smaller, the bill measuring about 2*1. 



The Red-bearded Bee-eater occurs in Tenasserim from the south up to 

 Moulmein, and Capt. Bingham also found it in the Thoungyeen valley. It 

 appears to be tolerably common, and is probably resident. 



It ranges through the Malay peninsula to Sumatra and Borneo. 



This fine Bee-eater, according to Mr. Davison, is found singly or in 

 couples, not in flocks. It has a hoarse note, and when uttering it the bird 

 stretches out its neck, puffs out its throat and bobs its head up and down. 

 It probably breeds in March and April. 



Genus MEROPS, Linn. 



457. MEROPS VIRIDIS. 

 THE GREEN BEE-EATER. 



Merops viridis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 182 ; Jerd. B. 2nd. i. p. 205 ; Hume, Nests and 

 Eggs, p. 99; id. S. F. i. p. 167, iii. p. 49 ; Bl. B. Burm. p. 73 ; Armstrong, S. F. 

 iv. p. 304 ; Hume fy Dav. S. F. vi. p. 67 ; Anders. Yunnan Exped. p. 582 ; Leage, 

 Birds Ceylon, p. .309; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 85; Bingham, S. F. ix. p. 152. Merops 

 ferrugiceps, HoJgs. in Grays Zool. Misc. p. 82. 



Description. Male and female. Forehead, crown, nape, upper back and 

 ear-coverts chestnut, tinged with green on the forehead and crown ; lores 

 and a streak under the eye and ear-coverts black ; lower back, scapulars, 

 wing-coverts and rump bright green; tertiaries and upper tail-coverts 

 green slightly tipped with blue ; primaries greenish on the outer webs, 



VOL. II. F 



