706 llv. T\'. L. Sclater an Birds colled ed 



the Zambesi, uliere it was scarcer, have I seen tljis Bee- 

 eater. I met witli it both in pairs and hirge floehs at the same 

 time ; it was one of the common Inrds of Beira, and conld 

 be seen any day sitting on the acacias and other trees in the 

 streets and the gardens of the private houses. It does not 

 appear to hawk for food like the other Bee-eaters, but darts 

 out on its prey from a fixed perch after the manner of 

 Mtdittojjhagus merldionalis. In Beira enormous flocks were 

 seen towards evening circling and twisting over the mangrove- 

 swamps where they roosted, presenting at a distance the 

 appearance of Swallows. At Masambcti, near Beira, I found 

 two pairs breeding in the banks of some drainage-ditches cut 

 througli cultivated land, but only one hole contained eggs. 

 These holes ran in for about three feet, with hardly any up- 

 ward incline, and in the cavity at the end of one I captured a 

 female sitting on six esfgs, which I should imagine is rather 

 a larger clutch than usual. When dug out the cavity was 

 within six inches of the surface of the ground, and there 

 was no deposit of debris or other matter. The cry of this 

 bird is a single clear note, and its food consists principally 

 of winged insects of various kinds. 



The soft parts of the adult are : — Irides crimson ; bill, 

 legs and toes black.] 



408. Merops xubicoides. 



Mero/js natalensis C. Grant, Bull. B. O. C. xxi. 1908, 

 p. 60. 



Tv. Woodbush, Jan. (3) ; P. ]\Iasambeti, Nov. (1) ; Beira, 

 Nov., Dec. (4). 



[Woodbush in North-East Transvaal, the Beira district, 

 and the Zambesi, where I saw several hawking over the 

 water on my trip from Tambarara to Tete, are the (uily 

 localities where this beautiful Bee-eater was noted. It was 

 usually seen in threes, fours or lialf dozens, comprising 

 old and young, sitting on the tops of the trees or 

 hawking high up for food well out of shot. This Bee- 

 cater is perpetually on migration or is a great wanderer, as 

 all I have seen have never remained for more tiian a few 



