86 
CATALOGUE. 
ravines. It sometimes picks an insect off the ground, or off a flower 
or branch. I have often seen this bird collect towards sunset in 
small parties on a road, and roll themselves about in the sand and 
dust, evidently mth great pleasure." — (Jerdon, Madr. Joum. XI. 
p. 227.) 
Mr. C. W. Smith, in his MS. Notes, says : " Their time of in- 
cubation is the month of June, and for months after they are 
hatched the whole brood congregate, and swim about with the 
swiftest and most entire movements through the air, making short 
dips, and returning to the topmost twig, from which they took 
flight. During these evolutions, they are busily employed in snap- 
ping up the insects." 
" The Green Bee-eater has the power of gliding along for some 
distance without closing its wings, so that its flight consists of two 
parts, — a rapid commencement in which the wings flap rapidly, and 
a quick glide with the wings and tail fully expanded. Its motion, 
especially in this latter position, is extremely elegant." — (Pearson, 
Joum. A. S. Beng. X. p. 631.) 
Mr. Blyth also remarks : " This bird is extremely common, but 
disappears in the rainy season. It breeds in the neighbourhood of 
Calcutta, as I have had specimens brought me with eggs ready to 
lay in the month of March. The general habits of this bird are 
those of a fly-catcher, but it frequently hawks for insects on the wing, 
many together, like swallows." — (Ann. Nat. Hist. XII. p. 93.) 
105. MEBOPS PHILIPPINUS, Linn. 
Merops philippinus. Linn., S. iV^. I. p. 183. G. R. Gray, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. II. p. 69. Sod^s., Cat. B. Nep. 
p. 57. Jerd., Madr. Joum. L. S. XI. p. 228. Bli/th, 
Cat. B. Mus. A. S. Beng. p. 52. 
Merops javanicus, Sorsf., Trans. Linn. Soc. XIII. 
p. 171. Baffles, Trans. Linn. Soc. XIII. p. 294. 
G. B. Gray, Gen. of Birds, I. p. 86. Bonap., C. 
G. Av. p. 162. 
Merops Savignyi, Temm. 
Merops Daudini, Cuv., Bieg. An. I. p. 442. 
Merops typicus, Rodgs. Gray, Zool. Misc. (1844), 
p. 82. 
The Philippine Bee-eater. 
