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Hab. Madagascar and adjacent islands ; south-west and south-eastern portions of the mainland of Africa. 
Ad. M. persico similis, sed supra saturatior : pileo viridi-fusco : linea frontali et superciliis albis vis viridi tinctis, 
stria sub vitta nigra per oeulos ducta alba : mento summo albo vix flavo lavato : corpore subtus sicut in 
M. persico colorato, sed pallidiore : rostro, pedibus et iride sicut in M. persico coloratis. 
Adult male (Madagascar).— Upper parts generally as in Merops persicus, but rather darker ; 
crown much darker, being of a coppery brownish-green tinge ; a narrow frontal line continued to 
a superciliary line over the eye white, with a faint greenish tinge ; the stripe below the black 
patch through the eye and the upper part of the chin also white, the latter tinged with yellow ; 
the chestnut-red on the throat slightly paler than in M. persicus and broader, forming the white 
stripes below the eye ; underparts as in M. persicus, hut rather paler ; bill, legs, and iris as in 
M. persicus. Total length about 12 inches, culmen T85, wing 5-4, tail 6 - 0 (central rectrices 
elongated and attenuated, extending 2'6 beyond the lateral ones), tarsus 0'55. 
This species (which appears to me to be perfectly distinct from Merops persicus, although it has 
by so many ornithologists been united with that species) inhabits Madagascar, Anjuan, and the 
south-western and eastern parts of the mainland of Africa, and is even found in South-eastern and 
Western Africa. ITartlaub even states that it has been obtained as far north as Gaboon, and writes 
(Eaun. Madag. p. 32) that he compared an example obtained by Gujon and found no appreciable 
difference between it and specimens from Madagascar. Iteichenow records it from the Loango 
coast, and Andersson from Damara Land; but a specimen obtained by the latter explorer at 
Ondonga, which I have examined, I should certainly refer to Merops persicus. One, however, 
obtained by Sala in Angola, as well as one obtained by Monteiro in the same country, both of 
which are in the British Museum, agree closely with Madagascar examples. Mr. Sharpe considers 
that this species is not separable from Merops persicus, and writes (in his edition of Layard’s B. of 
S. Afr. p. 97) that “notwithstanding the difference in the shades of blue and green which are to 
be found in a series of skins of this Bee-eater, we believe that but one species is represented ; the 
brown head which is sometimes seen, more especially in Madagascar birds, is often to be noticed 
in specimens from other parts of Africa, and these brown-headed individuals occur along with 
green-headed specimens, so that they are nothing but immature birds.” In this view, however, I 
cannot in the least concur ; for though it is true that the brown-headed and white-cheeked bird 
does rarely occur in West and South Africa, together with the blue-cheeked green-headed Bee- 
eater, yet in East Africa the former appears to be the predominant species, and in Madagascar and 
the adjacent islands it alone occurs, there being no trace of the existence of the Blue-cheeked Bee- 
eater eastward of the mainland of Africa. 
Mr. Sharpe further states (ut supra) that Senor Anchieta obtained Merops superciliosus on 
the Bio Coroca, in Mossamedes, and that it has also been sent from Benguela by Senor Furtado 
d Antas. It is also stated to occur in the Cape Colony, and I possess a specimen from the 
Transvaal. Mr. Sharpe also records it as being found in Matabele Land. Captain Sperling 
obtained it in the Mozambique Channel; and Messrs. Fischer and Beichenow record it from 
Zanzibar, and Mr. Nicholson (P. Z. S. 1878, p. 355) from Dar-es-Salaam, opposite Zanzibar. 
Dr. Kirk has obtained it on the east mainland of Africa, and I have examined specimens sent by 
