MEROPS PHILIPPINES. 307 



the blue cheek-stripe broader than in any I have procured in Ceylon. Philippine specimens are identical with 

 Ceylonese in plumage, but they are a smaller race ; the wing of a Negros example is 4-9 inches, another 5'0. A 

 Siimatran example measures 5'2 inches ; two from Japan 545 and 5 - 25 respectively. 



Distribution. — This fine Bee-eater, migratory to Ceylon, arrives in the north of the island ahout the 

 beginning of September, and rapidly spreads more or less through all parts of it before the end of the month. 

 It seems to find its way to the south-west corner, or Galle district, almost as soon as to any part of the island, 

 and collects there in greater numbers than elsewhere on the western side. I have met with it in the interior 

 of the country, between Galle and Akurresse, as early as the 8th of September. It locates itself in great 

 numbers in the Jaffna peninsula, and on the north-west coast as far south as Puttalam, and spreads in tolerable 

 numbers into the interior, passing over the forest-clad portions, however, to a great extent, and ascending to 

 the patnas and open hills of the Kandyan Province. In Uva and Pusselawa and on the Agra, Lindula, and 

 Bopatalawa patnas, at an elevation of 5000 feet, it is common ; but I have never seen it on the " plains " of 

 the Nuwara-Elliya plateau. In the Eastern Province it confines itself mostly to the sea-board, being less 

 numerous in the Park country and the south-eastern "jungle-plain"''' than the next resident species. Its 

 departure from the island is as sudden as it is regular, in proof of which I may state that at Galle, in two 

 successive seasons, I observed it collect in large flocks between the 29th and 31st March, and disappear 

 entirely on the 1st April. Mr. Holdsworth, who writes that at Aripu it was so abundant that the common 

 resident species (M. viridis) was scarce in comparison with it, states that it left about the beginning of April ; 

 and by the end of that month I believe it has quitted the island entirely. In the neighbourhood of Colombo 

 it is chiefly located in large tracts of paddy-ground and about the great swamp between there and Negombo. 

 It is now and then met with in the cinnamon-gardens. 



The Blue-tailed Bee-eater is found throughout most of the empire of India, being very generally distri- 

 buted throughout the central and eastern portions of the peninsula during the cool season, while in the breeding- 

 time it locates itself in those parts which furnish it with localities suitable to its nesting-habits. In some 

 places it is rare : Mr. Fairbank met with it but once in the Khandala district ; and it is mostly replaced by the 

 Egyptian Bee-eater in the north-west, for though it " often occurs," according to Mr. Hume, in the Mount- 

 Aboo district, it is neither found in Northern Guzerat nor in Sindh. In Chota Nagpur it appears to be local; 

 but Mr. Ball writes, in ' Stray Feathers/ 1875, that he met with large numbers in the vicinity of a river in 

 that region in April, and that he infers that they were breeding there. To the eastward of India this species 

 is found in Tenasserim and Burmah, and likewise in the Malay peninsula, taking into its range the Nicobars 

 and South Andamans. Further south still it is found in Java, Sumatra, Flores and Timor, and the Philippine 

 Islands, and has been met with in China and Formosa by Mr. Swinhoe. 



Habits. — In Ceylon this species prefers to frequent open lands, plains studded with bushes near the sea-, 

 shore, esplanades, paddy-fields, swamps, and the patnas of the hill-region. It passes a great part of its existence 

 on the wing in pursuit of insects, after which it dashes with a very rapid flight, constantly uttering meanwhile 

 its loud notes. When reposing from its labours, it rests on low objects, such as stumps of trees, fences, low 

 projecting branches, little eminences on the ground, and often on the level earth itself. It is tame in its nature, 

 allowing a near approach before it takes wing. On rainy evenings in November and December, when the air 

 is swarming with insects, and particularly with winged termites, which issue forth from their nests on such 

 occasions, the Blue-tailed Bee-eater congregates in large flocks on the wing, dashes to and fro for hours 

 together, ascending to a great height in pursuit of its prey, and keeping up its not unpleasant notes without 

 intermission. When exhausted with these exertions, they settle on walls, trees, or the ground in little parties 

 and when rested resume their flight. I have seen such flocks as these night after night on the Galle esplanade, 

 and often observed them flying round and round high above the fort before finally moving off for the night to 

 some distant and common roosting-place. When its prey consists of beetles, dragonflies, or other large insects, 

 which it espies from its perch, it is captured after a sometimes prolonged flight, brought back, and killed 

 before being swallowed by being repeatedly struck against whatever object the bird is seated on. This may 

 often be witnessed when the bird is perched on telegraph-wires, which are a very favourite look-out with 

 it. I have seen it dash on to the surface of ponds and rivers, and seize insects which were passing over the 



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