we noticed its arrival in 1868, on the 2nd of August, and in 1870
on the 10th of the same month. We have seen it at the Knysna,
and have received it from a valued correspondent at Swellendam,
Mr. Wm. Cairncross, who has sent it with several other Swifts and
Swallows killed in that neighbourhood.
Yictorin procured it in the Karroo, and also in the Knysna in
May: here also Mr. Andersson shot it. Mr. Rickard says that it
occurs at Port Elizabeth, where it is generally seen about Christmas,
but does not stay. At East London the same gentleman has noticed
it on the 31st of July. Captain Shelley writes:—“ Although I
found this species plentiful in the Cape Colony, I did not observe it
near Durban.” Mr. Ayres has, however, procured it in Natal. Mr.
Andersson says:—“ On July 8th, 1866, I observed at Objimbinque
a large flight of these Swifts, which to the best of my recollection
wore the first I ever saw in Damara Land, and particularly noted
them as very numerous on the Omaru River on November 2nd.”
Senor Anchieta has likewise met with the species at Huilla in Mos-
samedes.
G. melba appears to reside principally in the mountains, only
occasionally descending into the plains when some particular food
is to be found. On the top of Table Mountain we have seen it in
great abundance. Once, after lighting a fire there, we found ourselves
surrounded by hundreds of them, hawking after the flies
which the fire drove up. They dashed through the dense smoke
and skimmed along the burning ground at the risk of singeing their
wings.
The large size of the Alpine Swift prevents its being mistaken
for any other species known from South Africa, measuring, as it
does, 8 inches in length, with a wing of 8 inches also. In addition
to this it can always be told by its white belly.
Fig. Dresser, B. Eur. part xxxi.
Fam. MER0PID2E.
92. M e eof s a p ia s t er . European Bee-eater.
The European Bee-eater, during its period of visitation, extends
all over the Cape Colony, and we have generally noticed its arrival
about August in company with the Quail. All the instances which
have been recorded with the actual dates of capture, shew that it is
only during the months when it is absent from Europe that it visits
South Africa, and hence the fact of its breeding during its stay is of
great interest. Victorin procured it in the Karroo in January; Dr.
Exton shot a specimen at Kanye, and on the 24th of October, 1873,
Mr. T. E. Buckley shot two specimens near the River Meathly in
Bamangwato. It does not seem to have occurred to Mr. Ayres in
Natal, but Mr. Andersson states that it is “ very common in Ondonga
during the rainy season, when it is also not uncommon in Damara Land
p r o p e r h e considers it to be less abundant in Great Namaqua Land.
Senor Anchieta has met with the species on the River Cunene, and also
at Caconda in Benguela, while the British Museum contains an example
from the Congo, without, however, any indication of the collector.
It hawks after flies, uttering its cheerful, chirruping cry, and
alighting on the summit of the highest bush in the neighbourhood.
It breeds in the neighbourhood of Nebs Poort, Mr. Henry Jackson
having found several nests in holes in banks. The eggs are pure
white : axis, 12///; diam. 10"'. We also found it breeding in great
abundance at the Berg river in September« and October. It does
not always select a bank into which to bore the hole destined for its
nest, for we found one flat piece of sandy ground perforated with
numberless holes into which the birds were diving and scrambling
like so many rats.
This species is of large size: Total length, 1P5 inches; wing, 5‘9 ;
culmen, 1'4; tarsus, 0'45. It is distinguished from the other Bee-
eaters of South Africa by its yellow forehead and throat, and by its
straw-colowred scapulars.
Fig. Gould, B. Gt. Brit. pi.
93. M erops su per c il iosu s . Blue-cheeked Bee-eater.
Merops savignii and M. asgyptius,Xayard, B. S. Afr. p. 69.
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 brownheaded
individuals occur along with green-headed specimens, so that
they are probably nothing but immature birds.
H