latter and then tunnelled off at right angles, and slightly downwards, for at least 3 feet, along the
face of the rock. The cgg-chaiuher contained one solitary hard-set egg ! The usual number of
eggs is four, hut I have often taken five; they are globular and glossy white in shape and colour.
Both sexes, I believe, engage in the work of incubation,"
Mr. B. W. Morgan wrote to mo that in Southern India he " found this bird breeding on the
banks of rivers and ghaut-roads, digging a neat tunnel from three to seven feet in depth, with a
globular chamber at the end. The eggs vary from three to six in number, and are deposited on
the earth, there being no attempt at a nest." I am indebted to Mr. Morgan for a series of eggs
of this Bee-eater, which arc pure white in colour, glossy in texture, rather round in form, and in
size average about JJJ by -|-Q inch.
The Little Green Bee-eater is subject to considerable variation in coloration of plumage;
but after a careful examination of a very large series of specimens I cannot find any valid reason
for separating any one of these forms and raising it to specific rank, though at the first glance one
would he inclined to consider the extreme form which inhabits Ceylon separable from the Egyptian
bird. This latter has the crown sometimes plain green and sometimes tinged with a rufescent
golden h u e ; but the throat is, as a rule, green with a blue streak on each side, though in some
specimens I have observed a trace of verditer-hlue on the centre of the throat, whereas the form
inhabiting Burmah has the head and nape very rufous, but the throat is as in the Egyptian bird.
Specimens from Southern India and Ceylon, on the other hand, have the throat vcrditer-bluc, more
or less intermixed with green, and the crown and nape tinged with rufous. In the British
Museum there is a large series of specimens from various localities, which differ as follows :—Thoso
from Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia differ scarcely at all inter se, and have the throat green and
the head hut slightly tinged with rufescent golden. One from Khist, north-east of Bushirc, and
one from Gwadar, in Baluchistan, have the throat marked with verditcr-hlue, but not very
distinctly, and the head coloured as in Egyptian examples. Two from Madras and one from
Lahore have the head rather rufous, that from Lahore being more marked with this colour; but
in one there is scarcely any trace of blue on the throat and none in the other two. Ono from
Darjccling has the crown as in Egyptian specimens, but the throat and undcrparts arc washed
with greenish blue; and one from Nepal has the crown tinged with rufous and the throat and
undcrparts more blue than in any other specimen I have examined. Four from Kamptee have
the head slightly tinged with rufous, but vary much in the amount of blue on the throat.
Lastly, two specimens from Burmah have the head and nape very rufous; but the throat is
coloured as in Egyptian specimens, being green with a blue streak on each side,
In the Tweeddalc collection there is a very rich series of these Bee-caters, and on examining
them, I find one from Assam and two from Ahniednuggur precisely similar to aud undisthiguishahle
from Egyptian examples, whereas three from Bangoon, one from Tonghoo, and oue from
Central India are like Egyptian specimens, but have the head rather more strongly marked with
rufous; a large series from various parts of India (three from Ahmednuggur), Tonghoo, the Karen
lulls, Moulmcin, and Bangoon have blue on the throat, and have the crown and nape rufous,
varying much in intensity of colour. In some the blue tinge on the throat is very slight, whereas
In others it is nearly as deep as in Ccylonese specimens. In a series from India (Candeisb,
Maunbhoom, Deyra Boon, Ahmednuggur), Tonghoo, aud Ceylon, the throat is vcrditer-blue,
more or less mixed with green, some having the head very rufous, whereas others have it coloured
as in Egyptian examples.
Speaking of Ccylonese specimens, Col. Legge writes (B. of Ceylon, i. p. 309) that they " vary
in the golden hue of the nape and hind neck, but do not exhibit the brilliant hue of birds from
Cachar and Burmah, to which Hodgson gave his name of ferrugineiceps: they are typical
M. viridis, like birds from Central and Southern India; but it mast be remarked that occasionally
very rufous-headed specimens arc proeured in Madras. That the species is variable in this
character throughout its entire habitat may be gathered from the fact, demonstrated by Mr. Hnme,
of the Sindh race almost wanting the rusty golden tinge. In Ceylon I have observed that
nestling birds vary in the extent of the brighter colours of their plumage when these are first
put on, the development of such tints depending perhaps on the physical vigour of the individual.
I once shot a pair of young green Bee-eaters together, winch were, of course, out of the same n e s t -
one with the normal plain green throat and short tail of the nestling, the other with the blue
throat-band appearing and the central tail-feathers half-grown. Perhaps the latter would always
have been a more brilliantly plumaged bird than the former; for the difference in age, at most 24
hours, could scarcely have accounted for the backwardness of the plainer specimen in acquiring
its adult character. As regards the relative size of Indian and Ccylonese birds, I find that the
wings in eight specimens from Pegu (as given in ' Stray Peathcrs') vary from 3*6 to 3-S inches,
precisely the measurements given above for Ceylonese birds. Some Indian examples have the
central tail-feathers longer than any I have seen in Ceylon; one specimen from Kamptee, iu the
British Museum, has them 2*6 inches beyond the adjacent pair, 2 3 being my limit." To this I
may add that, as a rule, I have found that examples from Egypt have the central reetrices longest,
and in one specimen in my collection from there, the two central tail-feathers extend slightly over
three inches beyond the lateral ones."
The specimens ntnired arc, on one Plate, two adult birds from Egypt, and on the second Plate
one from Burmah and one from Ceylon.
In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens :—
E Mus. S. E. Dresser,
a,b,c. Egypt {Capt. Shelley), d. Abyssinia (Verreaux). e. India, ƒ. Maunbhoom,India,Janaaryl865 (Eeavan).
g, h. Ceylon (Holdsworth). i. Pegu, British Burmah.
JE Mus. Tweeddale.
<*, <? juv. Zoulla, 8th June, 1868 {Jesse), b, c. India. <f, juv. India. e,f,g. Candeish, h. Deyra Boon. t,<J.
Huwarc, near Ahniednuggur, 1st December, 1876. k, ¥ . Near Ahmednuggur, 2nd January, 1875. I. Ahmednuggur,
19th September, 187G. m. Ahmednuggur, 19th October, n. Ahmednuggur, December 1876. o, o* ad,;
p, $ juv. Ahmednuggur (Fairbank). q, <$. Maunbhoom, February 18G5 (Beavan). r,%. N. Kbasia lulls,
February 1876. s, ? juv. (Biddulph). t, ? . RaWal Piudee (Biddulph). u, . Hazarce-baga {Riddulpk).
v. Mysore. », ? . Kbandala, 23rd May, 1876. r, y. Ceylon, z, aa, bb, «, dd. Tonghoo. ee. Mcctan,
Teuasscrim. ff. Assam, gg. Burmah. hh. Moulmcin, 9th July, 1865 (Beavan). ii. Karen hills {II arrfto
Ramsay), jj. Rangoon, kk, <J. Rangoon, 21st June, 1873 (IF. Ramsay). U,*m, <?,?• Rangoon, 29th
November, 1873. nn. Rangoon, 14th November, 1873 (IV. Ramsay).
E Mus. Paris.
o. Coromandel coast, type of Merops citrinella,\m. (Sonxerat). b,c,d,e. India (Eydoux If Swleyet). f. Poudecheny
{Leschenault). g. Bengal (Mad).
E Mus. Brit.
«• *>, o. Egypt (Sir S. Baker), d. Nubia (Schaufuss). e. Atfab, Annealey Bay, Abyssinia, 5th February, 1868.