Bee-eaters 497 



the Old World occupied by the Jacamars in the New World. They have a long, 

 slender bill which is gently curved throughout and provided with a well-marked 

 ridge on the culmen. The legs and feet are feeble and syndactyle, that is, the 

 fourth or outer toe is united to the middle toe as far as the last joint, while the 

 second and third toes are united by the basal joint only. The primaries are 

 ten in number and the tail-feathers twelve; the sexes are alike or nearly so in 

 plumage. The Bee-eaters are disposed among five genera and about forty 

 species, of which more than half are confined to the Ethiopian region, but they 

 are also well represented in the Indian and Australian regions, with a limited 

 number extending into the Palaearctic region. They are for the most part social 

 and gregarious birds, even during the breeding season, and frequently nest in 

 colonies. They are arboreal in their habits, frequenting forests and plains and 

 showing a special liking for the vicinity of rivers, in the banks of which they 

 mostly make their nest burrows. These holes, which they excavate for them- 

 selves, often extend for six or eight feet into the bank; the eggs, without excep- 

 tion, are pure white and glossy. The notes of the Bee-eater are usually described 

 as harsh and unmelodious. 



Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters. The first genus to be considered (Dicrocercus) 

 is exclusively African, and is distinguished at once by the long, deeply forked 

 tail, whence the species are called the Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters. Of the two 

 known species, one (D. furcatus} is found in West Africa, while the other (D. 

 hirundineus] comes from the eastern and southern parts of the continent. The 

 first-mentioned species is a bird about eight inches long, of a golden green above, 

 becoming cobalt-blue on the forehead and upper tail-coverts, while the pri- 

 maries are pale chestnut edged with greenish and tipped with black, and the 

 tail is greenish blue and golden olive, all but the middle and outer pairs tipped 

 with white ; there is a broad black stripe through the eye and ear-coverts which 

 is succeeded by a narrow ashy white streak, while the cheeks and throat are 

 orange-yellow, the lower throat ultramarine -blue, and the remainder of the lower 

 parts greenish blue. The other, slightly larger species is similar in coloration, 

 differing only in the absence of blue on the forehead and eyebrow. Their habits 

 are apparently similar to those of Bee-eaters in general. 



The Square-tailed Bee-eaters, comprised in the genus Melittophagus, are 

 distinguished at once by their square tails, thus differing from the Swallow- 

 tailed on one hand and from the true Bee-eaters (Merops), in which the central 

 pair of feathers are elongated, on the other. They are birds of relatively small 

 size, ranging between six and nine inches in length, having a rather slender bill, 

 rather short, rounded wings, in which the third quill is longest, and small, stout 

 feet. The general coloration of the plumage is green, with strong contrasts of 

 blue, yellow, and black. Although they are to some extent gregarious, they are 

 perhaps less so than the true Bee-eaters, and are rarely seen in large flocks. 

 They frequent especially watercourses as well as swamps and marshy localities, 

 and feed on insects which are captured on the wing. Their notes, like those of 

 their relatives, are harsh and monotonous. Thirteen of the fifteen species of 

 Square-tailed Bee-eaters are confined to Africa, the remaining two spreading 



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