56 MEBOPID^ MEEOPS 



defined on -the neck, forked on the upper back (fig. 1, p. 2); oil 

 gland naked ; caeca present. 



The Bee-Eatexs are a family of birds of bright plumage, confined 

 to the Old World : they all breed in holes in sandbanks or similar 

 situations, and lay rounded white eggs. 



Fig. 22. — Foot of Merops nuhicoides. 



Key of the Genera. 



A. Central tail-feathers elongated Merops, p. 56. 



B. Outer tail-feathers elongated ; tail forked Dicrocercus, p. 64. 



C. Tail square, no feathers elongated Meliticphagus, p. 67. 



Genus I. MEROPS. 



Type. 

 Merops, Linn. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. i, p. 182 (1766) M. apiaster. 



Bill long, slender, and pointed ; the nostrils large, rounded, and 

 generally covered with plumes ; a few short rictal bristles ; wings 

 pointed, the first primary minute, hardly reaching beyond the wing- 

 coverts, the second the longest ; secondaries falling short of the 

 primaries by a considerable amount ; tail with the two central 

 feathers elongated and attenuated in both sexes. • 



This is a large genus of brightly-coloured birds, spread all over 

 the Old World. Some twelve African species are recognised by 

 Shelley, four of which enter our limits. 



