340 BEE EATER. Class II. n 



the head chesnut 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 whitish 

 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 wedge-shaped form v 

 the legs are reddish brown ; the claws reddish 

 black.* 



These birds chiefly inhabit the southern parts 

 of Europe, but visit occasionally Germany, 



* Latham Syn. ii. 667, from whom the above accurate de- 

 scription is borrowed. 



