22 



ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, (CEYLON BRANCH.) 



south it is particularly numerous on the Gindurah as far up as 

 the " Haycock." 



25. Merops Philippemsis, Lin?i. —The Blue-tailed Bee- 

 eater. " Fly-catcher" of Europeans. Layard, Annals Natural 

 History, 1853, page 173. Kelaart, Prodromous Faunas Zeylanica, 

 page 119, 



Migratory to Ceylon, arriving at the beginning of September in 

 the north, and reaching the south about the middle of that month. 

 Spread throughout the Central Province up to 6,000 feet, at which 

 elevation 1 have found it numerous near Pusscllawa and in the 

 Knuckles ; exceedingly abundant throughout the low country of 

 the south-west and about the Fort at Galle ; scarce in the Morowak 

 Korale, and not plentiful in the south-east; tolerably numerous in 

 parts of the Trincomalee country and in the extreme north. Kelaart 

 records it from Nuwara Eliya in his list from that part. It is 

 rare about Colombo. Leaves the south about the 1st of April, 

 though stragglers remain some years as late as the middle of that 

 month. Holds worth also records it as very numerous at Aripo ; 

 says it leaves the north during the same month. 



26. Merops Vxridis 5 Linn.— -The Green Bee-eater. 



This charmingly tame little bird is partial to certain districts of the 

 low country, and does not extend into the hills. It prefers the 

 dry and hot portions of the Island, is absent from the south-west, 

 but exceedingly abundant irom Tan gal la round the south-east 

 and east coasts to Trincomalee and the extreme north. It is more 

 numerous in the neighbourhood of Hambantota than about Trin- 

 comalee, and is, I imagine, resident in that district throughout 

 the year. Holdsworth says it is abundant at Aripo, and mentions 

 it being seen sometimes about Colombo. I have not remarked it 

 there. 



27. Merops quinticolor, Vieill— The Chesnut-headed 

 Bee-eater, 



Very local in its distribution. Affects the borders of rivers, in 

 particular, in the south-west up to thirty or forty miles from the 

 soa, but does not extend to an elevation of more than 1,000 feet. 

 Notably numerous on the Gindurah, from where the banks become 

 hilly to beyond the Haycock, also on the Kaluganga to Eatnapura. 



Note. — I confess I cannot look on this as a strictly hill species; 

 it is very partial to rivers with hilly banks, and follows them up 

 into or just to the foot of the mountains ; although it has been 

 found in the vicinity of Kandy, it must be far scarcer there than 

 on the rivers of the south-west, where it breeds in numbers. 

 When Layard says, Annals Natural History, 1853, page 174, 

 " Whilst the two former frequent low open plains and are rarely, 



