l i e
Jm: supra pallidior, sccundariis ct tectricibus alarum cwruleo marginal is : gula albida: macula oculari indistinct!
ct flavido marginatfi: torque jugulari nullo.
Adult male (S. Andamans).—Crown, nape, and interscapulary region bright chestnut-red;
wings and lower back parrot-green, the quills internally margined with rufous and tipped with
blackish brown ; the elongated secondaries tipped with blue ; rump and upper tail-coverts light
blue, central rcctrices bluish on the outer and green on the inner webs, remaining tail-feathers
green on the inner web, margined with reddish brown and tipped with blackish brown ; lores and
a stripe passing beneath the eye black; chin and throat rich yellow; a black band crosses the
throat, broadly bordered above with chestnut and below narrowly margined with golden yellow;
underparts bright apple-green, becoming bluish green on the abdomen and under tail-coverts;
bill black; legs purplish black; iris scarlet. Total length about 7'5 inches, culmen wing sV4,
tail 3-5, tarsus 0 5 .
Young (fide Leggc).—The chestnut on the upper parts paler in tinge; wing-coverts and
secondaries margined with blue; throat whitish, the black facial band ill-detined and margined
below with yellowish ; no hand across the throat, but the lower throat and chest greenish like the
rest of the underparts.
TIIE Chestnut-headed Bee-eater inhabits Southern India, the Andamans, Ceylon, Tenasserim,
Burmah, Siam, and Cochin China, and is also stated to have been met with in China, and it
ranges down the Malay peninsula as far as Penang. Br. Jerdon says (B. of India, i. p. 209):—
" This very beautiful Bee-cater, which is the type of the division TJrica, Bon., is only found in
forest-country, and is most abundant in elevated districts. It is found in the Malabar forests and
adjoining mountains. I have seen it on the Coonoor Ghat of the Neilgherries up to 5500 feet of
elevation; and it is not uncommon in the "Wynaad and other elevated wooded districts. I never
saw it on the east coast, nor has it been sent from Central India. Blyth says that it is not found
in Lower Bengal, and it is not likely to occur in the North-western Provinces. It extends, however,
to Arrakan, Tenasserim, and Malayana." The portions of India whence I lind it recorded
are the west coast by Bingham, Behra Boon by Dr. Jerdon, Chota Nagpur by Mr. Ball (who
writes, Str. Beatb. ii. p. 386, that he met with a pair ou the 15th March in the well-wooded hills
near the village of Paharhulla in Sirguja), and from N.E. Cachar by Mr. Inglis, who states that
it is common there during April and May, but disappears about the end of the hitter month.
Mr. Hume remarks that it was not observed in the Nicobars, but it is abundant on the Andaman
Islands; and Mr. Davison says (' Stray Feathers,' ii. p. 103) that " this species is very common
in the immediate vicinity of Port Blair, hut it is also found, though more sparingly, in the Great
and Little Cocos, Strait Island, &c. It is a bird that seldom wanders very far from the forest,
and although it is occasionally met with in some extensive clearing, yet it chiefly frequents the
roads, running through forest or well-wooded gardens. They breed at the Andamans, and I
found them commencing to perforate the banks for their nests just before I left the Andamans in
the middle of May." It is by no means an uncommon species in Ceylon. Mr. lloldsworth writes
(P. Z. S. 1872, p. 423) that " this is a hill-species, and a resident in Ceylon. I have shot it in
August at the foot of the hills in the south, and I have frequently seen it on the lower hills in
the neighbourhood of Kandy; but it is nowhere so numerous as either Jf. viridisov M. philippitms,
and is generally seen singly or in pairs. I have not observed it on the upper hills. Of two
Ceylon specimens, with the chestnut border to the black throat-hand, one has the tail entirely
green, and the other with the central feathers blue." Col. Legge writes (B. of Ceylon, p. 312) :—
"This handsome Bee-eater is sparingly dispersed over the island, inhabiting some localities in
considerable numbers, while in other districts mere stragglers are met with. In the south it is
common on the Gindurah river, commencing above Baddcgama and extending up into the bills
of the Ilincdun Pattu; it likewise frequents the hanks of the Kaluganga, Kelaniganga, and
Maha-oya in the "Western Province, and is found here and there through Saffragam. To the
north of these localities it is located about Kurunegala, on the l)eduru-oya, in the Puttalam
district, and in isolated spots in the neighbourhood of Damhulla. Mr. Parker has met with it in
the Anaradjapura district, and it occurs sparingly throughout the northern forests. I have seen
it between Trincomalie and Mullaittivu, but I do not think it is to be found much to the north
of the latter place. In the Kandyan Province it is much more common than in most parts of
the low country, inhabiting the vale of Dumhara, Deltota, Nilatnbc, Maturatta, and Uva generally.
I t does not ascend to the Nuwara-EUiya plateau."
I t is said to he common in Assam, Tenasserim, and Burmah. Mr. Armstrong writes (Str.
Eeath. iv. p. 305) that " it occurred very sparingly in Southern Pegu. During the months of
November, December, and January I did not meet with any specimen of this species, but during
the latter end of February I saw several pairs near Elephant Point. They were all remarkably
shy, and when disturbed flew away quite out of sight." Mr. Illanford records it as being tolerably
common in Pegu and Ava; and according to Mr. Hume it was very common along the foreststreams
at the foot of Nwalabo in Tenasserim. Mr. Oates speaks of it as being sparingly
distributed throughout British Burmah ; and Major Bingham writes to me as follows:—" I first
met with this Bee-eater on the western coast of India, on the hanks of the forest-streams in the
"Western Ghats, and not again till in similarly wooded country I found it common near the rivers
in Tenasserim. Though generally to be observed in the vicinity of water, I have more than once
come across it in dense forests wherever a break in the jungle afforded clear space for its little
flights. I have no pleasanter reminiscences of my wanderings in those eastern forests than those
connected with the abundance of this bird, on the oft-repeated marches that I had to make between
the large village of Kaukarit on the Iloundraw river and the frontier town of Meeawuddy on the
Thoungyeen, the river which is the boundary between British Tenasserim and the Shan States.
From Kaukarit a winding jungle-road leads along the bed of the Kaukarit stream, straight up to
near its source by the Tounjah pass across the Donat mountain-range. Crossing the little stream
over thirty times, some of the most beautiful little vistas of forest-scenery open one after the other
at each turn of the road. The forest on both sides of the path is dense evergreen—trees crowding
on trees on the low steep hillsides, canes and creepers growing in wild luxuriance matting the
whole together, so as to render any attempt to stray off the beaten track a work of difficulty.
Amidst all this the rivulet winding in and out creates the breaks in the forest, where, on the
branches of the trees overhanging its banks, this lovely little Bec-cater can be observed in scores,
sitting motionless but watchful, or swooping with cheery whistle at the butterflies which assemble
in myriads at the crossings of the stream, making great patches of gorgeous colour on the wet
sands. It is wonderfully interesting to watch them dart with sudden sweep at some unwary
butterfly passu" by, seize it with a loud snap of the bill, and return with an easy, graceful sailing
to their perch, on the way deftly shearing off the wings, which flutter unheeded to the
ground. g 2