706 Mr. W. L. Sclater on Birds collected 
the Zambesi^ where it was scarcer, have I seen this Bee- 
eater. I met with it both in pairs and large flocks at the same 
time ; it was one of the common birds of Beira, and could 
be seen any day sitting on the acacias and other trees in the 
streets and the gardens of the private houses. It does not 
appear to hawk for food like the other Bee-eaters, but darts 
out on its prey from a fixed perch after the manner of 
Melittophagus meridionalis. In Beira enormous flocks were 
seen towards evening circling and twisting over the mangrove- 
swamps where they roosted, presenting at a distance the 
appearance of Swallows. At Masambeti, near Beira, I found 
two pairs breeding in the banks of some drainage-ditches cut 
through cultivated land, but only one hole contained eggs. 
These holes ran in for about three feet, with hardly any up¬ 
ward incline, and in the cavity at the end of one I captured a 
female sitting on six eggs, which I should imagine is rather 
a larger clutch than usual. When dug out the cavity was 
within six inches of the surface of the ground, and there 
was no deposit of debris or other matter. The cry of this 
bird is a single clear note, and its food consists principally 
of winged insects of various kinds. 
The soft parts of the adult are:—Irides crimson ; bill, 
legs and toes black.] 
408. Merops nubicoides. 
Merops natalensis C. Grant, Bull. B. O. C. xxi. 1908, 
p. 66. 
Tv. Woodbush, Jan. (3) ; F. Masambeti, Nov. (1) ; Beira, 
Nov., Dec. (4). 
[Woodbush in North-East Transvaal, the Beira district, 
and the Zambesi, where I saw several hawking over the 
water on my trip from Tambarara to Tete, are the only 
localities where this beautiful Bee-eater was noted. It was 
usually seen in threes, fours or half dozens, comprising 
old and young, sitting on the tops of the trees or 
hawking high up for food well out of shot. This Bee- 
eater is perpetually on migration or is a great wanderer, as 
all I have seen have never remained for more than a few 
