BLUE-BELLIED BEE-EATER. 
81 
specimens. One of these, formerly in Bullock’s 
Museum, and alluded to by Dr. Latham, is now in 
our possession. As Senegal has been mentioned, 
without any doubt, as its native country, we include 
it in our list; although not one specimen, as we 
have been assured, was among the hundreds of 
birds recently imported from that province. 
This splendid bird is at once recognized by its 
bright crimson throat, and azure blue belly and 
tail-covers. Its size is much smaller than that of 
the common bee-eater, although it is larger than 
M. crythropterus. The upper plumage is of the 
usual parrot-green, except the superior part of the 
neck, winch is light cinnamon or ferruginous, the 
margins of which blend in and harmonize with the 
surrounding green ; there is an almost imperceptible 
shade of blue close to the nostrils, and the tip of the 
chin is of as deep a black as the eye-stripe and 
ears ; the rest of the chin and the half of the throat 
in front is of a bright scarlet red, while the sides of 
the neck, the breast, and the whole of the body and 
flanks is of a cinnamon brown, similar to the upper 
neck ; the belly, vent, and under tail-covers, are of 
a clear vivid ultramarine blue without any mixture 
of green. The first quill-feather is half as long as 
the second, a remarkable deviation from the typical 
structure, while the third only is the longest ; the 
wings are green, but the lesser quills are tipt with 
deep velvet-black for about half an inch, the black 
having an edging of blue very conspicuous but not 
defined ; the tail is quite even, and the feathers 
F 
