MEROPID.E. 05 



Merops swinhoii, Hume. 



. Merops quinticolor, Vieillot. Jerdon's Birds of India, 

 Vol. I, p. 208 ; Butler, Deccan ; Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 382; 



THE CHESNUT-HEADED BEE -EATER. 



Length, 8'5 ; wing, 4'3 ; tail, 3'25 ; bill at front, 1'3. 



Bill black ; irides fine crimson-red ; legs and feet plumbeous. 



Whole top of the head, nape, hind-neck, and upper part of 

 back rich chesnut ; wing-coverts, interscapulars, and tertiaries 

 bight green, the latter tinged with blue ; rump and upper 

 tail-coverts pale azure-blue ; quills dull green, tending to rufous 

 on the inner web, and black tipped ; tail, with the centre 

 feathers, blue on the outer web, all the rest dull green, 

 tipped dusky ; tail even, or slightly emarginate, with the centre 

 feathers not elongated ; beneath, the chin, throat, and sides of 

 the neck up to the ear-coverts, pale yellow, below which is a band 

 or collar of ferruginous, edged with black ; the breast bright 

 green ; abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts the same, tinged 

 with blue; wings within rufous-brown. 



The Chesnut-headed Bee -eater occurs sparingly on the Western 

 Ghats and in the jungles adjoining. 



Merops persicus, Pall. 



120. Merops cegyptius, Vieill. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. I, 



p. 209; Butler, Guzerat; Stray Feathers, Vol. Ill, p. 456; 



Deccan, Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 382 ; Murray's Vertebrate 



Zoology of Sind, p. 1 08 ; Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India ; 



Ibis, 1885, p. 61. 



THE EGYPTIAN BEE-EATEK. 



Length, 12 to 12'5; expanse, 18*5; wing, 6'21 ; tail to the 

 end of the central tail-feathers, 5*5 ; tarsus, 44 ; bill at gape, 

 2-34 ; bill at front, 1-6. 



Bill black ; irides crimson ; feet dark-plumbeous. 



Above, including wings and tail, green mixed with verdigris- 

 blue on the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts ; forehead with a 

 narrow line of yellowish- white, succeeded by a pale blue band, 

 which continues over the eyes ; a dark line through the eyes to 

 the ear-coverts, which are mixed greenish blue and dusky ; below 

 this from the gape is another narrow white line, edged with 

 pale blue ; chin yellow ; throat deep chesnut ; rest of the lower 

 parts blue-green ; tail even, with the two centre tail-feathers 

 elongated. 



The Egyptian Bee-eater is a common seasonal visitant to all 

 parts of Sind, but occurs less commonly in Guzerat, Rajpootana 

 and Central India, and is extremely rare in the Deccan. 



Merops apiaster, Lin. 



121. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 210; Murray's Vertebrate 

 Zoology of Sind, p. 108. 



