66 
shot a female at New Dongolah on the 19th May which had a fully formed egg in the ovary. 
Allen found a colony breeding at Damietta in April; and I also found one on some half-desert 
pasture-land at Daclischur in the same month. But Brehm is wrong in saying that all Bee-eaters 
(and he probably means M. cipiaster in particular) migrate solely in company with 21. persicus ; 
for one finds separate hooks of the different species in the same locality, but I never saw them 
intermixed. Hartmann states that he observed Her ops persicus in January near Golosaneh in 
Egypt, whereas I never saw it between September and March in North-east Africa. In the 
autumn the plumage fades greatly and loses the rich green sheen ; and the moult probably takes 
place in January and February.” 
Mr. Jesse records the Bee-eater from Abyssinia; but Mr. Blanford did not meet with it, 
though he obtained one, shot at Adigrat by Capt. Newport. 
In North-western Africa it is far less common than on the north-eastern side of the 
continent ; and though it occurs in Algeria, it is far from common there. Mr. J. H. Gurney says 
(Ibis, 1871, p. 75) : — “ On the 21st of April I saw an Egyptian Bee-eater in one of the cemeteries at 
Gardaia, which proved to be of this species. I afterwards came upon a flock of them lying upon 
the large stones which are scattered about wherever there are no gardens. I saw them also on 
walls, and on the fence-work upon the town- wall ; and returning I found the cemetery, where 
I had seen the first solitary bird, occupied by about a dozen. They were perfectly tame ; and I 
thought I had never seen a more interesting sight than these sparkling birds as, one after another, 
they rose into the air to hawk for insects, and, returning, perched upon a tombstone within a few 
yards, perhaps, of where I was standing. They have only one note ; it is loud and rather harsh, 
like the Common Bee-eater’s. Their flight is slower, hut even more gliding, with the wings very 
much raised, except when the birds are high in air, when they appear to be more depressed. 
They almost lie upon stones and walls, as if unable to sit upright on account of their long tails 
and short legs.” On the west side of the African continent the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater is found 
as far south as the Cape Colony. Swainson records it from Senegambia, and there are specimens 
from Senegal in the Leyden Museum. Yerreaux records it from Casamanze, Bissao, and the 
Gaboon, Perrein from Malimbe, and Monteiro from Benguela and Angola. This last explorer 
says (l. c .) that in Angola it was “ generally seen on the tops of trees, from which it darts out and 
sweeps slowly in the air, in the manner of a Swallow, returning to rest on the tree, where it 
utters a very peculiar and mournful cry ; their stomachs contained remains of insects.” There 
are examples in the Lisbon Museum from Loanda and Bio Quito in Angola ; and Professor 
Barboza du Bocage writes {l. c.) that “ it appears, though not commonly, in the southern portions 
of the Portuguese settlements of Angola, chiefly towards the interior, as M. Anchieta does not 
seem to have observed it in the vast tract he traversed from Capangombe to Cunene. Andersson 
only observed it once on the Okovango river. It disappears or becomes very rare in localities 
where Merops cipiaster is common.” I possess specimens from Bissao and from Ondonga, the 
latter obtained by Mr. Andersson, who observed it near the Okavango river ; and in the last 
collection he sent over there were several specimens obtained in Ondonga, in November 1866. 
Mr. E. L. Layard, who records this Bee-eater from the Cape Colony, writes that it Was “ found 
in Natal by Mr. Ayres. A single specimen was also forwarded to the Museum by T. B. Bayley, 
Esq., of Wynberg, having been shot by that gentleman on the Cape Elats. Mr. Dumbleton, of 
Wynberg, assures me that these birds periodically visit a circumscribed portion of the Cape 
Elats in considerable numbers. On the 15th Eebruary, 1866, a specimen shot near Kuils 
river was sent to the Museum by Mr. Bishop.” 
