B L U E B R O W E D G R E E N B E E - E A T E R.
M E R O P S M U S C A T E N S IS
M E R O P S M U S C Ä T E NS IS.
BLUE-BROWED GREEN BEE-EATER.
Merops muscnirnsis, Sharpe, lliis, 1 H,4(», p. 15.
Figtira nulla.
HAB. Muscat.
Ad. corpore supra sicut in M. viridi colorato, scd strifl. frontali et superciliari pallidc viridi-crerulea ; gula etgutture
sicut in M. ctjanophryi coloratis, scd paullo pallidioribus et clarius eoloratis: plaga nigra minore: abdomine
sicut in M. viridi, sed magis crcruleo tiucto : rostro nigro: pedibus sordide plumbeis : iridc scarlatina.
Adult.—Upper parts as in Merops viridis, but with a narrow frootal and superciliary stripe of
a pale greenish-blue colour; throat and breast as in Merops cyanophrys, but the blue on the
throat is rather clearer and lighter in tinge of colour, is rather less extended, and the black patch
is somewhat smaller; rest of the underparts as in Merops viridis, but somewhat more tinged with
blue; beak black; legs dull dark plumbeous; iris bright red. Total length about G'Vo inches,
euhnen 1-12, wing 3*6, tail 3'9, tarsus 0-&: central reetrices extending 0*7 beyond the lateral
ones.
J U S T as I had sent to the printers the last batch of MS. for the present work, my friend
Mr. R. Bowdler Sharpe wrote asking me to come and see an apparently new Bee-cater which had
been sent to the British Museum from Muscat by Col. Miles. I at once took my two specimens
of Merops cyanophrys for comparison, and found the bird in question to be a fairly good species,
exactly intermediate between Merops viridis and Merops cyanophrys. Mr. Sharpe has named it in
the January number of ' The Ibis' for 1S8G, and a detailed description will be given by him in
the April number of that periodical. Compared with Persian examples of Merops viridis and my
two specimens of Merops cyanophrys, the present species agrees with the former in the coloration
of the upper parts and abdomen, but it has a clearly defined narrow greenish-blue frontal and superciliary
stripe, and the central reetrices are much shorter and blunter. It agrees more closely with
Merops cyanophrys in the coloration of the throat and breast, but the blue is rather paler and
clearer and the black patch is smaller. In siae it agrees more closely with M. viridis than with