TO PICARTAS 
KEY TO THE FORMS 
1. Forehead and eyebrow blue, contrasting with colour of pileum, whichis green. 
Rae eos es © 2 » «© «© « « . «= DD. TIRUNDINEUS RIRUNDINDUS: 
. Throat band, abdomen and tail-coverts vich cobalt blue... . . D. HIRUNDINEUS CHRYSOLAIMUS. 
— The blue of the belly, the tail-coverts and especially the throat band of a 
HOGG ys 6 8 O oe ee oe a 6 OS RIRUNDINEUSIHEUGLING 
— The blue colour still deeper; the belly and under tatl-coverts pale ultra- 
mayine ble 5 « « « © « « « =» « © =» © & © « 9) JO SRIRUNDINDUSZOMOENSIS: 
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1. Dicrocercus hirundineus hirundineus (Lichtenstein). 
Merops hivundineus Lichtenstein, Cat. Rer. Nat. Rariss. p. 21 (1793); ef. Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. Vol. 
p. 43 (1892). 
Merops furcatus Stanley, in Salt’s Voy. Abyss. Vol. 4, p. 57 (1814) (Mozambique ?). 
Merops hivundinaceus Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. Hist. Nat. Vol. 14, p. 21 (1817). 
Melittophagus tavva Boie, Isis, 1828, p. 316 (« Riviere d’Orange, jusque sous le tropique »). 
Merops faiva Cuvier, Réegne Anim. Vol. 1, p. 442 (1829) (ex Levaillant, « Orange River »). 
Merops hirundo Schalow, Journ. f. Ornith. 1886, p. 420. 
Fig. notab. Levaillant, Hist. Nat. Guép. pl. 8; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. Vol. 17, pl. 
(1892); Dresser, Monogr. Merop. pl. 22. 
1, f. 1 (head) 
Hab. South Africa, to the Zanzibar region on the east coast, and to Damara Land and Benguela on 
the west. 
2. Dicrocercus hirundineus chrysolaimus (Jardine & Selby). 
Merops chrysolaimus Jardine & Selby, Il. Ornith. Vol. 2, pl. 99 (ca. 1829) (« Cape of Good Hope, Sierra Leone, 
Gambia »). 
Dicrocercus furcatus Stanley, cf. Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. Vol. 17, p. 42 (1892). 
Fig. Jardine & Selby, Ill. Ornith. Vol. 2, pl. 99 (ca. 1829); Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. Vol. 17, pl 
aide 
f. 2 (1892). 
Hab. West Africa, from Senegambia to the Niger. 
3. Dicrocercus hirundineus heuglini Neumann. 
Dicrocercus hivundineus heuglint Neumann, Bull, Brit. Ornith. Club, Vol. 16, p. 113 (1906) | Bongo). 
Merops azuroy Lesson, Traité d’Ornith. p. 239 (1831). 
Hab. North-eastern Africa : Upper White Nile and Gazelle River districts. 
4. Dicrocercus hirundineus omoensis Neumann. 
Dicrocercus hirundineus omoensis Neumann, Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club, Vol. 16, p. 114 (1906) (Koscha). 
Hab. North-east Africa : Omo region. 
4. GENUS MELITTOPHAGUS BolE 
Melittophagus Boie, Isis 1828, p. 316 (type : M. pusillus P. L. 5S. Miller). 
Characters. The genus Melittophagus closely resembles Merops, but with the wings 
reaching to the middle of the tail and rounded, with the first quill much longer than the 
primary coverts, the second shorter than the third, the third longest; the secondaries are long, 
the inner ones much elongated; the tail is long, broad and-nearly even, the outer feathers 
are slightly inclined outwards; the webs of the throat-feathers are dissolved, forming an 
indistinct barbe. The bill is long, rather slender, attenuated towards the tip, which is acute. 
The feet are small, rather stout; the lower part of the tibia is scantily feathered, the tarsus 
scutellate, 
