87 
BLUE-HEADED, OR RED BEE-EATER. 
Merops ccendeocephalus , Latham. 
PLATE IX. 
Red ; brighter beneath ; head, rump, and tail-covers, blue ; 
two middle tail-feathers long and pointed. 
Le Guepier rose a tete bleue, Le VaiU. pi. 3. — Merops super- 
bus, Pennant , Tnd. Zool sup. 33 ; Gen. Zool. viii. 161 ; Nat. 
Mis. pi. 78. — Merops ca?mleocephalus, Auct.> PI. Enl. 649 ; 
( Lath . Gen. Sy. ii. 680 ; Gen. Ilist. iv. 139.) 
This is in all probability the bird described by tbe 
Linnsean writers bere quoted, although the length is 
stated to be only nine inches. We are also inclined 
to believe it the same as the blue-headed merops of 
our catalogues, figured, however badly, in the 640th 
plate of the Planches Enl . ; the only essential differ- 
ence between the two, being, that the latter has not 
the two middle tail-feathers elongated. Latham’s 
description, however, of his Blue-headed Bee-eater 
is stated to be made up from a drawing by Bruce 
(who was no ornithologist), and is quite different 
from the bird of Buffon. The elongation of the two 
middle tail-feathers is either a sexual distinction, or 
is a mark of the season of breeding. 
This is a very striking species ; the red of its 
plumage is of a bright brick-dust colour above, but 
