GENUS MEROPS.
Merops, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 182 (176fi). Type Merops api
Tephraerops, Reichenbaeh, Meropiiiic, p. 82 (1852). Type Merops maHmbicus.
Melittotheres, Reichb. ut supra (1852). Type Merops nubicus.
Bhpkaromerops, Reichb. ut supra (1852). Type Merops perslcus.
Phlothrus, Reichb. ut supra (1852). Type Merops riridis.
Aerops, Rcicbb. ut supra (1852). Type Merops albicollis.
MeUttophas, Reichb. ut supra (1852). Type Merops bicolor.
Melitlophngus, Reichb. ut supra (1852), nee Boie.
Cosmaerops, Cabanis, Mils. Ilcin. ii. p . 138 (1859). Type Merops ornattis.
Bombylonax, Heine, Journ. fiir Ora. 1859, p. -134 (1859). Type Merops breweri.
Archimerops, Hartlaub in Wiegm. Archiv, xxvi. p. 9 0 (18G0). Type Merops breweri.
Meropogon, Cassin, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1859, p. 39 (1859), ncc Bp.
HAH, The southern part oi the Palrcarctic Region, the entire Ethiopian and Indo-Malayan Regions, and
the Australian Region.
Alis longis, acutis ; rcmige prima brcvissimft, sceunda omnium longissimA, tertia brcviore, seapularibus brevioribus :
caud/L scquali, rcctricibus duabus eeutralibus valdc clongatis r rostro elongato, graeili, curvato : juguli pi urn is
haud clongatis: pedibus brevibus, robustis.
Bill long, somewhat slender, curved, pointed, pentagonal at the hasc, then four-sided,
compressed; gape-line curved; nostrils roundish, nasal membrane short. Wings long, pointed,
the first quill very small, the second longest, the third rather shorter; scapulars shorter than the
secondaries. Tail long, even, the two central rcctrices elongated and pointed. Feet small,
feeble, the lower part of t h e tibia bare, the tarsus indistinctly scuteBate ; toes short, slender, the
anterior parallel and partly united; claws slender, curved, compressed, acute.—Typo Merops
apiaster.
THE present genus contains fifteen species, which are widely distributed throughout the Old
World. They are, as a rule, gregarious, and frequent open places, chiefly near water or on the
borders of forests, and feed on insects, which they capture on t h e wing ; their flight >s swrft and
Swallow-like, and their cry is somewhat harsh and monotonous. They breed in colonics nesting
in holes in a bank or cliff, usually near, but sometimes tolerably far away from water, and
excavating their own nest-holes. Their eggs arc pure white, roundish, and glossy in texture, and
are deposited in a chamber at the end of the nest-hole, cither on the ground or on a few straws or
feathers, no regular nest being made.