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green, most of the quills tipped with blackish ; underparts generally pale green ; under tail- 
coverts pale blue ; a broad black streak passes from the base of the bill through the eye and 
covers the ear-coverts, below which is a broad turquoise streak on each side of the throat ; iris 
rich red; bill blackish; legs purplish brown. Total length about 9 to 9| inches, culmen 1- 7, 
wing 4-6, tail 5 - 8, central rectrices extending 2‘4 beyond the lateral ones, tarsus 0-5. 
Adult female (Batuan). — Does not differ from the male in size or in coloration of plumage. 
Young (Manilla). — Upper parts generally, except the rump and upper tail-coverts, deep dull 
parrot-green, the crown being rather darker than the rest of the upper parts ; lower rump and 
upper tail-coverts pale blue ; tail even, the central rectrices not elongated ; underparts pale green 
with a bluish tinge, the under tail-coverts bluish white. 
The range of this Bee-eater appears, so far as I can judge, to be restricted solely to the 
Philippines, where it is tolerably numerous. It is true that it has, by several authors, been stated 
to occur in other localities ; but, so far as I can ascertain, these statements refer to its near ally 
Merops sumatranus , and not to the true Merops bicolor. It has been recorded by various collectors 
from different parts of the Philippines as occurring from the month of Pebruary to October ; but 
it is probably also to be met with at other seasons of the year, and is therefore resident in that 
group of islands. Lord Tweeddale’s collectors obtained it in many localities, as will be seen by 
the list of specimens in his collection at the close of this article ; and Dr. Steere met with it in 
Panay and at Dumalon, Mindanao. This latter explorer states (Trans. Linn. Soc. 2nd ser. Zool. 
i. p. 316) that at Dumalon he found it in swamps, perching in low trees ; but in Panay it was shot 
more in the open, settling on weeds and sticks a little way from the ground. 
I have never seen the eggs of this Bee-eater, and although by no means common in the 
Philippines, I do not find that any notes respecting its breeding-habits have been published ; 
but it is fair to infer that it nests in holes in the river-banks and deposits white eggs like its 
allies. 
The specific name for the present species, which, strictly speaking, has the priority, is that of 
americanus, given to it by P. L. S. Muller (l. c.), who merely gave that name to the bird figured 
by D’Aubenton under the name of Gnepier de VIsle de France, and described by Montbeillard 
in Buffon’s Hist. Nat. Ois. vi. p. 493. The description given by Muller is as follows, viz. : — 
“ 8. Der Blaubauch. Merops americanus. Der Itiiclcen ist braun, der Bauch blau, die Flugel 
sind seegriin, und der Schwanz hat zwei sehr lange Ituderfedern. Der Aufenthalt ist in Isle de 
Prance. Buffon.” Miiller does not give any reason for calling a bird which has never been met 
with in the New World americanus ; and as it is so evidently a misnomer, and has besides never 
been applied to this species by any other author, the best plan, it seems to me, will be to let it 
remain as a mere synonym. 
The specimens figured are the adult and young birds above described, which are both in my 
own collection. 
