XV111 
CLASSIFICATION. 
The Bee-eaters differ hut little inter se in internal structure and in pterylosis, except that, as 
stated by Mr. W. A. Porbes (Monogr. of Jacamars, p. xi, footnote), most of the Meropidte have 
only the left carotid, whereas Nyctiornis has two, and it is therefore necessary to define the genera 
by external characters. This family has been greatly subdivided by various authors, and has been 
split up into as many as twenty-four genera ; hut of these it appears to me advisable to recognize 
only five, viz. : — 
1. Nyctiornis, which has the tail square and the pectoral plumes much elongated. 
2. Meropogon, which has the pectoral plumes as in Nyctiornis , hut has the middle rectrices 
elongated as in Merops. 
3. Merops , which has the pectoral plumes not elongated, hut has the two middle rectrices much 
elongated. 
4. Dicrocercus , which has the pectoral plumes not elongated, hut has the tail deeply forked. 
5. Melittophagus , which also has the pectoral plumes not elongated, hut has the tail nearly or 
quite even. 
Pull particulars of the characters of each genus are given in the body of the present work, so 
that I need not recapitulate them here ; and as the osteology has already been amply illustrated, 
and as there are no special peculiarities to figure in the soft parts, I have not deemed it necessary 
to issue any plate to illustrate the osteology or the generic characters. 
HABITS AND DISTRIBUTION. 
All the particulars I have been able to glean respecting the habits of the birds belonging to 
the present family will be found in the body of the present work. They are inhabitants of the 
forests and plains, as a rule affecting localities close to rivers, and are arboreal in their habits. 
Most of the species are gregarious even during the breeding-season and nest in colonies ; but the 
two species belonging to the genus Nyctiornis are said to be much less gregarious in their habits 
than their allies, and are usually seen singly or in pairs. The note of all the Bee-eaters is said to 
be harsh and unmelodious, and, as a rule, they are silent birds. 
All the Bee-eaters the nesting-habits of which are known make their nest-holes, which they 
themselves excavate in the ground, usually in banks, and most frequently in those which skirt or 
are near rivers or streams. When I wrote the articles on Nyctiornis amictus and N. atliertoni in 
the present work, as there stated, nothing certain was known respecting the nidification of these 
two birds, and it was uncertain whether they nested in hollow trees or in holes in hanks. Since 
then, however, the question has been satisfactorily solved ; for in a letter lately received from 
Mr. W. Davison he says : — “ It will doubtless interest you to know that Morgan took two nests 
of Nyctiornis atliertoni last year, in October and November. The bird breeds, like other 
Bee-eaters, in holes in banks. The holes are made by the birds themselves and extend six or seven 
feet into the bank. In one case the bird had nested in the bank of a road, in the other in 
an old elephant-pit.” 
All the Bee-eaters without exception lay pure white, glossy, roundish eggs. 
The range of this Pamily is confined to the Old World, none of its members occurring in 
