MEROPIDJE. 319 



Family MEROPID^, OR BEE-EATERS 



The Bee-eaters and their close allies the Rollers are associated by 

 Sclater with the Kingfishers and the Hoopoes ; but Forbes included them 

 in a group with the Owls and the Goatsuckers. The posterior margin of 

 the sternum of the Bee-eaters and Rollers has two notches on each side, 

 as is also found in the Kingfishers and Woodpeckers. In Huxley's classi- 

 fication, based primarily on the cranial bones, the Bee-eaters and Rollers 

 are associated with the Hoopoes, the Kingfishers, and the Cuckoos, in a 

 different group to that which contains the Swifts, the Woodpeckers, and 

 the Goatsuckers. Nitzsch places the Bee-eaters and Rollers between the 

 Goatsuckers and the Cuckoos ; and in their myology and digestive organs 

 they are said to be very nearly allied to the Goatsuckers. 



The Bee-eaters and Rollers only moult once in the year, in late 

 autumn. 



The most conspicuous external character of the Bee-eaters and the 

 Rollers is their metallic blue and green plumage frequently associated 

 with chestnut. Except in their small feet, scutellated hind tarsi, and 

 more pointed wings, the general appearance is very similar to that of the 

 Corvinae, the Bee-eaters resembling the Choughs in the shape of the bill 

 and the Rollers that of the typical Crows in this respect. The wing con- 

 tains ten primaries, the first primary being long in the Rollers and very 

 small in the Bee-eaters, and the tail consists of twelve feathers. 



There are about twenty Rollers and thirty-five Bee-eaters, making fifty- 

 five species in the Family of Meropidse. They are confined to the Old 

 World; but are absent from the Arctic regions, New Zealand, and the 

 Pacific Islands. One species of each group breeds in Europe, both of 

 which are rare stragglers to our islands. 



Genus MEROPS. 



The genus Merops was recognized by Linnaeus in the 12th edition of his 

 ' Systema Naturae/ i. p. 182, published in 1766. M. apiaster (the Apiaster 

 apiaster of Brisson) is the type. 



The Bee-eaters may be distinguished by their long pointed wings and 

 very minute bastard primary. The tail is also long and the two centre 



