writes :—“ These Bee-eaters I have usually found in flights on the
banks of rivers, generally alighting on the tops of bushes and trees,
or on any bare exposed twig: their notes are harsh and short.’” The
same gentleman also procured specimens on the Monocusi River in
Natal. According to Dr. Kirk it was met with in the Zambesi
district, “ solitary in habits, frequenting the banks of streams.” It
never seems to have occurred to Mr. Andersson in Damara Land,
but Senor Anchieta fell in with the species on the River Cunene and
also at Huilla in Mossamedes.
This species is of medium size, the chief characters being its
straw-coloured nape and breast, the latter contrasting strongly with
the deep blue under tail-coverts : it is also remarkable for its white
chin and broad white moustache. Total length, 8‘5 inches; culmen,
1*4; wing, 4-6 ; tail, 4-0 ; tarsus, 0'5.
96. M ero p s pu s il l u s . Little Bee-eater.
.Merops erythropterus, Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 70.
Although not yet recorded from within the boundaries of the
Cape f Colony, the present bird is by no means rare in collections
from Natal and the Transvaal. Respecting its occurrence in the
former province Mr. Ayres writes :—“ 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 the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, which is only here
during the summer months. It is seldom that more than five or six
are seen together, and generally not more than two. When feeding,
their flight is not so prolonged as that of M. superciliosus, neither is
their note so loud and harsh.” Dr. Bxton procured it at Kanye, in
the Matabili country, and generally throughout Zulu Land during
the winter months. “ It flies low,” he writes to us, “ and perches
on twigs near the ground, from whence it launches after passing insects.”
Mr. Ayres says that it is pretty common along the Limpopo,
and Mr. T. E. Buckley noticed it on the same river, as well as on
the Samouqui River in the Matabili country. He says that they were
“ plentiful in comparatively open country in the north of the Transvaal.”
Dr. Kirk, who speaks of this species as M. variegatus,
mentions it as widely distributed in the Zambesi country in the
vicinity of water.
Mr. Andersson observes:—“ 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 N’gami itself, but I have never observed it as far south
as Damara Land proper. I t Beems to be partial to the immediate
neighbourhood of the reedy banks of rivers, and of swamps and
morasses; and I have never found it at any distance from water.”
Senor Anchieta has recently procured it on the Cunene River, and
Mr. Monteiro met with it both in Benguela and Angola proper.
The small size of this Bee-eater ought always to distinguish it,
but it may be briefly described as of a green colour on the upper
surface, with a yellowish brown breast: throat yellow with a blue
line across the lower part, followed by a black patch and shading off
into chesnut: bill and feet black : iris crimson in adults, dark hazel
in young. Total length, only 6 inches; culmen, VO; wing, 3'0 ;
tail, 2-5; tarsus, 0'3.
The young bird is, as in other species, much greener than the
adult: there is no yellow on the throat, which is, however, of a
light straw-brown, resembling the rest of the under surface, the
breast being marked with green.
Fig. Levaillant, Hist. Nat. Guepiers, pis. 7, 17.
97. D icrooercus h ir u n d in a c eu s . Swallow-tailed Bee-eater.
Merops Twrund/inaceus, .Layard, B. S.*Afr. p. 70.
Levaillant found this species in abundance near the Orange River,
and Mr. Ortlepp, who has forwarded specimens from Colesberg,
writes :—“ I found, in June, several hawking over the trees on the
banks of the Orange River. As the season was so far advanced I
conclude that they are not migratory like their congener, M. apiaster,
which they much resemble in habits, only they do not fly so high
when in search of food.” Mr. Andersson observes :—“ This is the
commonest species of Bee-eater in Damara Land, and it is also
found in Great Namaqua Land and in the Lake country. Chiefly
visits Damara Land during the wet season. I took a nest of this
Bee-eater on the Omaruru River on the 31st of October. It was
situated in a soft sandy bank, some three feet deep horizontally: the
entrance was not above two fingers wide, but the hole was slightly
enlarged where the nest was found. The latter, which had no lining,