96 CORACIAD.E. 



THE EUROPEAN BEE-EATER. 



Length, 10 to 11 ; expanse, 17 to 18 ; wing, 5 '5 to 6 ; tail, 375 

 to 475 ; tarsus, 0'5 ; bill at front, T2. 



Bill black ; irides red ; legs reddish-brown ; forehead pale 

 whitish-blue ; body above maroon-red, passing into rufous-yellow 

 on the rump ; a black eye-streak from the base of the bill, through 

 the eye, nearly meeting another black band which crosses the 

 lower part of the throat ; chin and throat rich yellow ; wings 

 blue-green, or greenish blue, with most of the coverts and the 

 secondaries chesnut, the latter black tipped, as are the primaries, 

 though faintly ; tertiaries blue-green ; tail dull green, the tips 

 of the centre feathers bluish ; lower parts verdigris-blue. 



Mr. Murray, in his Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, states that the 

 European Bee-eater " occurs as a bird of passage in Sind, Kutch, 

 Kattiawar, Rajpootana, and the Deccan." I have myself never met 

 with the bird in India, but further north in Afghanistan, I found it 

 very common. 



GENUS, Nycticornis, Swainson. 



Bill moderately long, well curved, strong, compressed ; ridge 

 flattened towards the base, with a parallel groove on each side ; 

 nostrils concealed by setaceous feathers ; wings moderate, full, 

 rounded ; fourth quill longest ; tail longish, nearly even ; feet short, 

 much as in Merops ; plumage lax, soft and dense, with a plume 

 of long stiff pectoral feathers differently colored. 



Nycticornis athertoni, Jard. & Selby. 



122. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 211 ; Butler, Deccan ; 



Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 382. 



THE BLUE-NECKED BEE-EATER. 



Length, 14 ; expanse, 18 ; wings 5 '5 ; tail 6 ; bill at front, 17 ; 

 tarsus, 0*6. 



Bill bluish-plumbeous, with black tip ; irides deep yellow ; legs 

 and feet dusky-greenish. 



General color bright vernal-green, shaded on the belly and 

 vent with buff ; forehead blue ; gular hackles rich ultramarine- 

 blue, formed of a double series of long drooping plumes, ranged 

 opposite each other or either side of the median line ; lining of 

 wings, the wings internally, under tail-coverts, and lower surface 

 of the tail buff. 



The Blue-necked Bee-eater was obtained by Mr. Laird in the 

 forests to the west of Belgaum. This seems to be the only re- 

 corded instance of its occurrence within the district. 



FAMILY, Coraciadse. 



Bill moderate or rather long, strong, broad at the base, com- 

 pressed towards the tip, which is hooked, and sometimes slightly 

 notched ; the gape is large, with or without rictal bristles ; tarsus 

 short, stout ; feet moderate ; toes free, or slightly syndactyle ; 



