MEROPSUPUPA 467 



668. GREEN BEE- EATER. 

 MEROPS VIRIDIS. 



Merops v iridis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 182 (1766) ; Shelley, B. of Egypt, 

 p. 171 ; Dresser, v. p. 171, pi. 297 ; id. Monogr. Merop. p. 31, 

 pis. viii, ix. ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. xvii. p. 78 ; Blanf. F. Brit. 

 Ind. Birds, iii. p. 110 ; M. viridissimus, Swains. B. W. Afr. ii. 



p. 82 (1837). 



Patringa, Harried, Hindu. ; Kurumenne-Kurulla, Cing. ; 

 Hnet-pasin-to, Burm. 



< ad. (Egypt). Upper parts, wings, and tail bright green, under parts 

 similar but duller ; crown and nape tinged with rufescent golden, the 

 lower back, rump, scapulars, and inner secondaries, with blue green ; quills 

 rufous on the inner webs, and tipped with black ; tail-feathers dusky 

 rufescent on the inner webs, the middle feathers much elongated ; a band 

 through the eye and gorget black ; a line below the eye-band bright blue ; 

 throat and abdomen tinged with blue ; bill blackish ; legs dull plumbeous ; 

 iris crimson. Culmen 0'95, wing 3*65, lateral tail-feathers 2'95, the middle 

 ones 5'35, tarsus 0'45 inch. Sexes alike. Specimens from India have 

 the throat bluer, and those from Burma have the head ferruginous. 



Hob. North-eastern Africa and Senegambia north to Pal- 

 estine ; in Asia through Persia to India, Ceylon, Burma, Siam, 

 and Cochin China. 



In habits, note, and food, this species does not differ from its 

 allies. Its nest-hole, which is from 3 to 7 feet in length with a 

 globular chamber at the end, is tunnelled in a bank, or some- 

 times on level ground, and from March to May its 4 to 6 eggs 

 are deposited on the bare ground. These are glossy white, 

 roundish in form, and in size average about 076 by O68. 



TIPUPA, Linn., 1766. 



669. HOOPOE. 

 UPUPA EPOPS. 



Upupa epops, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 183 (1766) ; Naum. v. p. 437, Taf. 

 142, figs. 1, 2 ; Hewitson, i. p. 249, pi. Ixiii. fig. 3 ; Gould, B. of E. 

 iii. pi. 238, id. B. of Gt. Brit. ii. pi. xii ; Newton, ii. p. 419 ; 

 Dresser, v. p. 179, pi. 298 ; Salvin, Cat. B. Br. Mus. xvi. p. 4 ; 

 Blanf. F. Brit. Ind. Birds, iii. p. 159; Seebohm, B. Jap. Emp. 

 p. 159 ; Saunders, p. 285 ; Lilford, ii. p. 20, pi. 9. 



H H 2 



