MEROPS ORNATUS, Lath.
Australian Bee-eater.
Merops omatus, Lath. Ind. Orn„ Supp. p. xxxv.
Momtain Bee-eater, Lewin, Birds of New Holl., pi. 18.
Variegated Bee-eater, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp., yol. ii. p. 155, pi. 128.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 130, pi. lxix.—
Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 158.
Merops melamrus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 208.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 238.
Dee-weed-gang, Aborigines of New South Wales.
Bee-roo-bee-roo-long, Aborigines of the lowland, and
Bef-rin-ber-rin, Aborigines, of the mountain districts of Western Australia.
Bee-eater of the Colonists.
T h e b e can, I think, be little doubt of the present being the only species o f Bee eater inhabiting Australia,
since no other came under my notice during my expedition; nor have I seen examples differing from those
here figured in any o f the numerous collections I have had opportunities o f examining, consequently the
specific term of omatus long since applied to it by Dr. Latham must be the one adopted, that of melamrus
given by Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield sinking into a synonym.
This bird has so many attractions that it will doubtless be always regarded as a general favourite with
the Australians; the extreme beauty o f its plumage, the elegance of its form and the graceful manner o f its
flight all combining to render it especially worthy o f their notice; besides which, many pleasing associations
are connected with it, for, like the Swallow and the Cuckoo of Europe, its arrival is a certain harbinger o f the
return of spring, which in the southern hemisphere is, as is well known, at the opposite period o f the year
to that o f the northern; hence the Australian Bee-eater, which is strictly migratory, arrives in New South
Wales and all parts o f the same latitude in August, and departs northwards in March, the intervening
period being employed in the duties of incubation and o f rearing its progeny. During the summer months
it is universally spread over the whole southern portion of the continent from east to west; and it will be
interesting to .ornithologists generally, as it was to myself, to know that at Port Essington on the northern
coast it is also strictly migratory, being abundantly dispersed over that part of the country when it is absent
from the southern. “ On my arrival at Port Essington in July,” says Mr. Gilbert, “ this bird was extremely
abundant in every variety of situation. It is a migratory bird in this part o f Australia; a few pairs perhaps
remaining to breed, as is evident from the natives being well acquainted with their mode o f incubating, and
also from my having in one instance seen a pair o f old birds with their young, which could not long have
left the nest as they were still being fed by their parents. With the exception of these I did not observe
this species in any part of the Peninsula or the adjacent islands, from the latter part o f August to the time
o f my leaving in the following March.”
I have never seen this bird either in collections from New Guinea or from any other o f the Indian islands;
hence we may naturally conclude that the extreme northern parts of Australia form the boundary of its
range in that direction, as New South Wales and the same degree o f latitude do on the southern. In
South Australia and at Swan River it is equally numerous as in New South Wales, generally giving preference
to the inland districts rather than to those near the coast; hence it is rarely to be met with in the
neighbourhood o f Perth, while in the York district it is very common. In New South Wales I found it
especially abundant on . the Upper Hunter, and all other parts towards the interior, as far as I had an
opportunity o f exploring. Its favourite resorts during the day are the open, arid and thinly timbered forests;
and in tbe evening the banks and sides of rivers, where numbers may frequently be seen in company. It
almost invariably-selects a dead or leafless branch whereon to perch, and from which it darts forth to
capture the passing insect, much after the manner o f many other of the Fissiróstral birds, particularly the
Kingfishers, to which it also assimilates in the upright position it assumes while perched. Its flight somewhat
resembles that o f the Artami, and although it is capable of being sustained for some time, the bird
more frequently performs short excursions, and returns to the branch it had left.
I have had frequent opportunities o f observing both the eggs .and young, which are deposited and reared
m holes, made in the sandy banksX rivers or any similar situation in the forest favourable for the purpose.
The entrance is about the size o f a mouse-hole, and is continued for a yard in depth, at the end o f which
is an excavation of sufficient size for the reception o f the parent, and the deposition on the bare sand o f four
or five beautiful white eggs, which are ten lines long by eight or nine lines broad.
The stomach is tolerably muscular, and the food consists of various insects, principally coleóptera and
neuroptera.
The sexes are alike in plumage, and may be thus described:—
Forehead, line over the eye, back and wing-coverts brownish-green ; crown of the head and nape orange-
brown ; wings orange-brown, passing into green on the extremities of the primaries, and broadly tipped
with black ; two or three o f the scapularies, lower part of the back, rump and upper tail-coverts coerulean
blue; tail black, most of the feathers, particularly the two centre ones, slightly margined with blue; lores,
line beneath and behind the eye and ear-coverts velvety-black ; beneath which is a stripe of coerulean blue;
throat rich yellow, passing into orange on the sides of the neck ; beneath this a broad band of deep black;
under surface like the back, becoming green on the lower part, of the abdomen; under tail-coverts light
blue; irides light brownish-red ; bill black; legs and feet mealy greenish-grey.
The young are destitute o f the black on the "throat, and o f the blue line beneath the eye.
The figures are o f the natural size.