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leaving only the young behind, or they moulted, and were then undistinguishable from the 
latter. However this may be, it is certain that after the 15th July I never procured a full- 
plumaged bird of this species until the hot weather following, while specimens, whether actually 
young birds of the year or not, I cannot say, were to be had every day throughout the autumn, 
in seemingly immature plumage.” With regard to the habits of this Bee-eater, Captain Bingham 
writes : “ The habits of this species closely resemble those of M. philippinus, for which it can be 
easily mistaken. Like the latter, it is more or less gregarious and given to circling round in 
lofty flights, uttering a whistle precisely similar to the whistle of that species. I have taken 
several nests ; these resemble those of M. philippinus closely, but are, as well as I can remember (I 
cannot find the notes I took on the spot about them), unlined. The eggs are, as is the unvarying 
rule in the Mei ophite, white, almost globular, and highly glossed. In size they may be a trifle 
larger than those of M. philippinus .” 
Captain Shelley says (l. c .) that “ the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater resembles Merops apicister in 
size, habits, and cry ; yet the two species are never found in one flock. During the day they 
may generally be met with perched upon the telegraph-wires, or feeding among the herds of 
cattle. I once observed them, towards evening, alight in such immense numbers upon a sand-bank, 
that they made it look almost as green as meadow-land ; they appear, however, generally to roost 
at night in the sont trees.” 
The late Mr. S. Stafford Allen, who found the present species breeding on the banks of the Nile, 
says (Ibis, 1862, p. 359): — “These birds mostly fly in flocks of twenty or thirty, though sometimes 
in much greater numbers. Whilst on their way in the daytime they keep at a considerable 
height, and sail about like Swallows, though not so rapidly, descending at night to roost in trees. 
They have a sharp twittering cry, which is often distinctly audible when the birds are almost out of 
sight. The Arab name of ‘ Dar-doon 5 is applied to both species .... Whilst returning from an 
ornithological excursion down the Nile to Damietta on the 21st of April (1862), our attention was 
attracted by a large flock of M. persicus hovering over one particular spot, where others of their 
number were settled on the ground. On a closer examination, a large number of holes were seen 
in a piece of ground between the river and a field of young wheat, which very slightly shelved 
down towards the water, in and out of which holes Bee-eaters were constantly passing. After 
digging out a passage of nearly 4 feet in length, which went in at an angle of 10° or 15°, we 
found a slightly enlarged chamber, which formed the nest. The bottom of this chamber was 
covered with the remains of dragon-flies, &c. (mostly wings), upon which the eggs were deposited. 
These were of a pure white, nearly round, and about 10 lines in length. The greatest number found 
in any one nest was three ; but the birds had evidently only just begun to lay (many of the holes 
being unfinished), so that we were unable to ascertain what is the usual number deposited. More 
than forty holes were opened, but only eleven eggs obtained. In the vicinity of every hole were 
numbers of pellets, formed of the wings and other indigestible parts of dragon-flies, butterflies, 
beetles, &c., which had been cast up by the Bee-eaters in the same manner as Hawks and Owls.” 
I possess several eggs of this Bee-eater, which do not in any way differ from those of Merops 
apiaster. 
The specimens figured and described are an adult male from Egypt and a young female 
from Persia, both of which are in my own collection. 
