Birds of Celebes: Meropidae. 
257 
The nearest ally of M. philippinus is perhaps M. ornatus^ which is placed 
next to it both by Dresser and by Sharpe. Both are migratory and one may 
be broadly said to represent the other according^ as they occur north or south 
of the equator, and it is conceivable that their differentiation into two forms 
may have been influenced by the circumstance that the breeding seasons in 
India and Australia are separated by an interval of half a year. 
GEMUS MEROPOGON Bp. 
This genus has the two middle tail-feathers prolonged and attenuated as 
in Merops, but is easily distinguished by its possessing a gorget of broad, lengthy 
feathers, and by a very different wing-formula : the first quill is about half the 
length of the longest, the second equal to the sixth, the third, fourth and fifth 
the longest. It is most nearly allied, apparently, to N^ctiornis, which has the 
tail square, and a curious groove along the ridge of the culmen. Meropo^on 
is known only by one species from the Minahassa, North Celebes. 
^ 79. MEROPOGON FORSTENI Bp. 
Torsten’s Bee-eater. 
Meropogon forsteni (1) Bp., Consp. 1850, I, 164 (ex Temm. MS.); (2) ~Reichh., Hb. spec. 
Orn., Merops, 1851, 80; (3) Bp., Oonsp. Vol. Anisodact. 1854, 8; (4) Wall., Ibis 
I860, 142; (5) id., Malay Archip. 1869, I, 429; (6) Wald., Tr. Z. S. 1872, VUI, 
42, 111; (VII) Gld., B. Asia I, pi. 39 (1873); (8) Meyer, J. f. 0. 1873, 405; 
Hartlaub in Neumayer’s Anleitimg 1875, 475; id. ib. 2“^ed. 1888, 395; (8^^^) 
Salvad., Ann. Mns. Civ. Gen. 1875, YII, 655; (9) Meyer, Ibis 1879, 58; ('Aj id., 
Yogelskel. pt. 1, 1879, 3, pi. Y; (11) W. Bias., J. f. 0. 1883, 135; (HII) Dresser, 
Monogr. Merop. 1884, 15, pi. lY; (13) Platen, Gefied. Welt 1887, 230; (14) Sharpe, 
Cat. B. XYn, 1892, 41, 87; (15) Meyer, Yogelskel. 1892, pt. XYII, 34; (16) 
M. & Wg., Abb. Mns. Dresden 1895, Nr. 8, p. 7; (17) iid., ib. 1896, Nr. 1, p. 4. 
a. Merops forsteni (1) Schl. , Handl. d. Dierk. 1857, 310; (2) id., Dierent. 1872 p. 53 fig.; (3) 
id., Mns. P.-B. Merops 1863, 8; (4) Tinsch, Neu Guinea 1867, 160; (5) Meyer, 
J. f. O. 1871, 231; (6) v. Musschenbr. , N. T. Ned. Ind. 1876, XXXYI, 382; (7) 
Bosenb., Malay. Archip. 1878, 272. 
h. Pogonomerops forsteni (1) Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. 1860, H, 132, note. 
c. Nyctiornis (Meropogon) forsteni (1) Gray, HL. 1869, I, 98. 
d. Nyctiornis forsteni (1) Briigg., Abb. Yer. Bremen 1876, Y, 49. 
Figures and descriptions. Gould VII\ Dresser XII\ Meyer X, 15 (skeleton); Schl. a 3\ 
Walden 6\ Briiggemann d 1\ Sharpe 14. 
Adult. General colour above, including -wings and the two lengthened middle rectrices, 
parrot-green, becoming dull bluish on the narrowed projecting part of the two middle 
rectrices, the ends and shafts of the remiges blackish; the lateral rectrices rufous 
chestnut, the outer webs of the outermost ones and the outer margins of the others 
green; forehead, crown, cheeks, chin, throat and chest dark hyacinth-blue, the 
gorget-feathers much elongated, broadened, and pendant; remaining parts of head 
and neck dull maroon; abdomen, flanks and sides dusky, washed with green; 
Meyer & Wigleswortli, Birds of Cele"bes (Oct. 27 th, 1897). 33 
