§40 BEE EATER. Class II. 



the head chesniit tinged with green : the head 

 and upper part of the neck chesnut, growing 

 paler towards the back : from the bill to the 

 back of the head is a black stripe, which passes 

 through the eyes : the back and scapulars are 

 of a very pale yellow, tinged with both chesnut 

 and green ; the rump and upper tail coverts 

 blue-green with a yellowish tinge ; the throat 

 yellow ; the under parts of the body blue- 

 green, growing paler towards the belly; the 

 lesser wing-coverts dull green, the middle ru- 

 fous, and the greater rufous green ; the quils 

 for the most part sea-green without, many of 

 the inner rufous ; the first short, the second the 

 longest : the tail consists of twelve feathers, the 

 shafts of which are brown above and w^hitish 

 beneath ; the two middle feathers are sea-green 

 with a shade of rufous, the rest the same, but 

 margined with cinereous within ; the two mid- 

 dle feathers exceed the outer by three quarters 

 of an inch ; the tail is of a w edge-shaped form : 

 the legs are reddish brown • the claws reddish 

 black.* 



These birds chiefly inhabit the southern parts 

 of Europe, but visit occasionally Germany, 



* Latham Si/n. ii. 66~, from vihoni the above accurate de- 

 scription is borrowedi 



