m e it 
( 3 . M. Bengalenfis, the Bengal bee-eater: body longer ; 
front blue. 
y. M. Egyptius, the Egyptian bee-eater : chin yellow ; 
a black line on each fide the head ; quill-feathers tipped 
with brown. The bill black, and ftraight; the tongue 
not jagged at the tip ; legs flelh-colour ; tail even. 
e. M. Philippeniis minor, the little Philippine bee-eater 
(of Brilfon) : chin, and ftripe between the eyes, blue 5 
the two middle tail-feathers black. 
£. M. Indicus, the yellow-fronted bee-eater: front pale 
yellow ; chin blue. Inhabits India. 
3. Merops congener, the yellow bee-eater: yellowifli; 
rump greenifh ; quill-feathers tipped with red, tail-fea¬ 
thers yellow at the bafe. In German this bird is called 
■fee-J'chwalm, or fea-fwallow ; which name is, in fome parts 
of Italy, given to the king-fiiher ; nor is this lurprifing, 
when we coniider the analogy between that bird and the 
bee-eaters. In this lpecies the yellow colour of the head 
is only interrupted by a black bar, and extends on the - 
throat and all the under fide of the body ; the back is of 
a fine chefnut; the reft of the upper fide of the body is 
variegated with yellow and green ; the fmall luperior co¬ 
verts of the wings Ire blue ; die middle ones variegated 
with yellow and blue, and the great ones entirely yellow.; 
the quiffs of the wings are black, terminated with red; 
the tail has both colours, black at its bafe and green at 
its extremity; the bfll^is black, and the legs yellow. 
This bird is rather larger than the ordinary bee-eater, and 
its bill is hooked. According to Gefner, it is often feen 
in the neighbourhood of Stralburg. 
4. Merops fuperciliofus, the fupercilious bee-eater: 
green, frontal line above and beneath the eyes white; 
chin yellow; two of the tail-feathers longer. It inhabits 
Madagai’car, where the natives call it patirich-tirich, which 
is manifeftly formed from its cry. The principal colour of 
its plumage is dull green, changing into brilliant chefnut 
on the head, not fo.dark on the upper fide of the body, 
growing more dilute on the hind-parts, ftill lighter on the 
.lower parts, and continually melting away towards the 
tail; the wings are terminated with blackifli; the tail is 
.dull green ; the throat is yellowifh-white at its origin, and 
fine chefnut at its lower part. But what bell charafterifes 
this bird, and gives it a lingular afpeft, is a broad blackilh 
bar, edged round its whole circumference with greenilh 
white; this border bends about the bafe of the bill, and 
gralps the origin of the neck, afluming. a yellow tinge ; the 
bill is black, and the legs are brown. This bird is in to¬ 
tal length eleven inches and one-third ; the bill twenty- 
one lines ; the tarfus five lines ; the hind-toe the fhorteft ; 
the alar extent fifteen inches and two-thirds ; the tail five 
inches and a half, confifting of twelve quills ; the two 
middle ones projedt more than twb inches beyond the tw r o 
lateral ones, and Two inches and three quarters beyond 
the wings,' which ccnfill of twenty-four quills, of which 
the firft is very Ihort, and the twelfth is the longeft. 
| 3 . M. Perfica. This variety inhabits Perlia, and about 
the Cafpian Sea ; and is fimiiar in fize, the colours of the 
plumage, and their diftribution, though lefs contrafted; 
the bill is weaker,' and the two middle quills of the tail 
exceed not the lateral ones. It is undoubtedly a variety 
occafioned by age or fex ; ifS'bar is edged with beryl, and 
the rump and tail are of the fame colour. 
5. Merops Philippeniis, the Philippine bee-eater. All 
the upper l'urface of the head and body is of a dull green 
colour, changing into rofe-copper ; the wings are of the 
fame colour, terminated with blackilh. lined with light 
fulvous ; the nineteenth and twentieth quills marked 
with glaucous on the outfide, and the twenty-fecond and 
twenty-third on the infide. All the quills and coverts 
of the tail are of a beryl blue, which is lighter on the 
inferior coverts ; there is a blackilh bar on the eyes ; the 
• throat is yeilowilh, verging on green and fulvous ; this lalt 
tint is more intenfe below ; the under fide of the body and 
the thighs are of a yellowifli green changing into fulvous ; 
.the bill is black, and the legs brown. This bird, as its 
Yojl. XV, No. 1032. 
OPS. 157 
name imports, is found in the Philippine-iflands; and is 
larger than the common bee-eater. Total length eight 
inches and ten lines ; the bill twenty-five lines ; the an¬ 
gle of its aperture at a confiderable diftance from the eye ; 
the tarfus five lines and a half; the hind-toe the fhorteft 
the alar extent fourteen inches and ten lines ; the tail 
three inches and eight lines, confifting of twelve quill’s 
nearly equal; and it projedts eleven lines beyond the 
wings, which have only twenty-four quills, the firft being 
the fhorteft, and the fecond the longeft of all. 
6. Merops cinereus, the cinereous bee-eater. This 
bird is about the fize of a fparrow ; and is included in 
the genus of the bee-eaters on account of the length and 
fhape of its bill, the length of the two middle quills of the 
tail, and the thicknefs and ihortnefs of its legs. It pro¬ 
bably refembles it alfo in the difpofition of its toes. Its 
head is of a fine grey ; the upper fide of its body the fame, 
variegated with red and yellow; the two long middle 
quills of its tail are pure red ; its breaft and all the under 
fide of its body are orange yellow; and the bill is of a 
handlome green. Total length nine or ten inches; the 
bill and tail occupy the one half of it. 
7. Merops Cafer, the grey bee-eater of Ethiopia. Lin¬ 
naeus is the only naturalift who lias taken notice of this 
fpecies, which he does from a drawing of Burmann. His 
indication, to which we can add nothing, is, that the plu¬ 
mage is grey; that there is a yellow fpot near the vent; 
and that its tail is very long. 
8. Merops flavicans, the white-and-yejlow bee-eater ; 
whitifh ; head varied with white and tawny ; breaft red- 
difh ; back yellow ; rump, wings, and tail, rufous ; two 
middle tail-feathers very long. In Willughby’s Ornitho¬ 
logy, this fpecies is deferibed as the fecond bird of para- 
dife of Aldrovandus. This naturalift fays he obferved it, 
in the year 1577, in the poffeflion of a Roman knight of 
the name of Cavallieri. The head was nearly white, l'prin- 
kled with yellow, and gold-coloured fpots; the eyes were 
luteous, with red eye-lalhes ; the bill between green and 
yellow, two fingers breadth long, and rather curved ; the 
tongue red, longilh, and Iharp, not unlike that of a wood¬ 
pecker, and calculated for piercing ; the breaft reddifli ; 
the back, wings, and belly, whitilh, but the upper parts of 
the tips of the wings ferruginous ; the upper part of the 
back yeilowilh, but becoming reddifli or ferruginous at the 
rump ; the tail-feathers were white at the bafe, but ferru¬ 
ginous for the remainder of their length, and the two mid¬ 
dle feathers exceeded the others two palms in length. 
The wings in the figure of Aldrovandus appear very long 
in proportion to the bird, and the author fays they mea- 
fured five palms in length ; the tail likewile, exclufively 
of the two middle feathers, appears of confiderable length. 
9. Merops Coromandus, the Coromandel bee-eater: 
yellowifli; fides of the neck, wings, and tail, yellow; 
wing-coverts, back, and rump, waved bluilh; ocular 
ftripes black. Inhabits different parts of India and Co¬ 
romandel, whence it derives its name. 
10. Merops Bralilienfis, the Brafilian bee-eater: varied 
brown and black ; head, chin, wing-coverts, and body 
beneath, red; wings and tail blue. It is found, as its 
name imports, in Brafil; and Seba, who gave the firft ac¬ 
count of if, feems to have been charmed with its plumage. 
Ruby colour fparkles on the head, throat, and all the un¬ 
der fide of the body ; it alfo appears on the upper coverts 
of the wings, but of a deeper hue ; a light brilliant blue 
is fpread on the quills of thawings and on thole of the 
tail; the lultre or thefe fine colours is heightened by the 
contrail of darker fhades, and by black and white l’paces 
fcattered on the upper l'urface; the bill and legs are yel¬ 
low, and the wings are lined with the fame colour; the 
red feathers of the under fide of the body are of a filky na¬ 
ture, as" oft to the feel as they are brilliant to the eye. 
This bird is nearly as large as the common bee-eater ; its 
tegs too are as Ihort; but its bill is more analogous to that 
of the Promerops, for. which reafou Buft'on made it an 
intermediate lpecies. 
S s si. Me- 
.-V 
