113 
Abyssinia up to from 7000 to 8000 feet above the sea-level, and along the White and Blue Niles, on 
the Sabat and Ghazal, westward to Kosanga. It is stated by Cabanis and Heine to occur in Egypt ; 
bat Yon Heuglin considers this to be an error. Mr. Petberick records it from Kordofan, and 
Messrs. Eiscber and Beichenow from the Galla country. It has been met with in East Africa 
right down to the Transvaal. Dr. Boehm obtained specimens (which I have now in my collection) 
at Kakoma and Sagara. Captain Speke shot this bird at Meninga. Sir J. Kirk obtained it at 
Dar-es-Salaam, opposite Zanzibar ; and it has been recorded from Mozambique by Bianconi. 
On the western side of the continent of Africa it has been met with, as above stated, from 
Senegal nearly down to the Cape Colony. Adanson records it from Senegal; Yerreaux from 
Casamanze ; there are specimens in the British Museum from Gambia ; and it is said to be 
common on the Gold Coast, whence I have examined many specimens. M. DuChaillu obtained 
it in Gaboon, and Captain Sperling and others have sent examples from the Congo. According 
to Dr. Beichenow (J. f. O. 1875, p. 18) it is “common in the river-districts of the Cameroon and 
Wuri, affecting the maize- and yam-plantations and the open steppes, and frequenting low bushes. 
I have never seen it high up in the air, and they travel about in pairs or families, and have a 
more restricted range.” It is also, he says, found on the Loango coast. Senor Anchieta procured 
it on the Cunene river. Professor Barboza du Bocage and Monteiro record it from Angola and 
Benguela ; and the latter, who met with it at Massagano in Angola, remarks that it was “ generally 
seen in the high grass and about flowers, which it searches for insects or honey, and it has a 
very agreeable chirping song.” 
In Damara Land, Mr. Andersson writes (B. of Damara Land, p. 62 ) : — “ This exquisite and 
diminutive species is common on the banks of the rivers Okavango, Teoughe, and Botletle, as 
well as on the Lake-watersheds in general, and also about Lake Ngami itself; but I have never 
observed it so far south as Damara Land proper. It seems to be partial to the immediate neigh- 
bourhood of the reedy banks of rivers and of swamps and morasses ; and I have never found it 
at any distance from water.” It does not occur within the limits of the Cape Colony, but appears 
to be common in Natal and the Transvaal. According to Mr. Ayres, who met with it in Natal : — 
“ These Bee-eaters are particularly fond of frequenting reedy marshes and swamps, and are to be 
found here in certain localities all the year round. They are by no means so plentiful as 
Savigny’s Bee-eater, which is only here in the summer months. It is seldom that more than five 
or six are to be seen together, and generally not more than two. When feeding, their flight is 
not so prolonged as that of Savigny’s, neither is their note so loud and harsh.” He further 
states that it is abundant about Bustenburg, frequenting sparsely wooded localities, and pretty 
generally distributed ; it is pretty common along the Limpopo, being generally seen in pairs, 
but sometimes in small companies. Mr. Sharpe (in Layard’s B. of S. Afr. p. 100) says that 
Dr. Exton procured it at Kanye in the Matabili country, and generally throughout Zululand 
during the winter months, and he wrote to him that “ it flies low, and perches on twigs near the 
ground, from whence it launches after passing insects.” Mr. T. E. Buckley writes (Ibis, 1874, 
p. 363) : — “ I saw one or two pairs of this species on the banks of the Limpopo on my way up, 
and another pair or two on the Samouqui river in the Matabili country. They were plentiful 
in comparatively open country in the north of the Transvaal on our way down, and were to be 
seen sitting, singly or in pairs, on a small branch of a bush on the look-out for insects, which 
they caught on the wing. I once saw a small party of about eight together.” 
According to Sir J. Kirk, this Bee-eater is widely distributed in the Zambesi country in the 
vicinity of water. 
