lvii
surrounds the head : the hind part of the neck is of a dirty yellowish white,the upper part of the back, the scapulars, and the principal part ofthe wingsare dusky brown, becoming almost black on the wings, and below the neck-collar ; on the lesser coverts is an interrupted oblique bar of white, and thebase of the quills is of the same colour, forming a very small spot when thewings are unclosed. In the middleof the wing the feathers have their exteriorwebs deeply margined with a changeable greenish blue, and their innerw r ebsand tips are dusky ; some few of the tertials have a very pale, almostwhitishedge about the tip : the prime quills are white at the base, as noticed above,then nearly black, with a small part of the outer edge greenish blue, andthence to the end dusky brown, the first quill having a very narrow edge ofwhitish along the outer web. The lower part of the back range and uppertail coverts are dusky, with the ends ofthe feathers of a glossy pale blue, sothat the latter is the only colour visible without displacing the plumage ; thetail is of a fine blue, changing into green, according to the light; the innermargin dusky; the shafts pale at the base, and afterwards of a chesnutcolour. The general colour of the under parts is whitish, pure on thechin and throat, as well as the under wing coverts and base of all the quills,except the two first secondaries, which, as well as a round spot below thebastard wing, are dusky black; below the white part the quills are ex-tremely dark, with dusky ends ; the feathers on the breast and sides havea very narrow dash of dusky down the shafts ; the belly, under-tail coverts,and vent, yellowish white, with a tinge on the last of the same blue whichcovers the rump : the tail is dusky underneath ; the claws brown,
No. 18 . Merops furcatus. — Fork-tailed, Bee-eater.
Length above nine inches ; bill black, an inch and a half in length, fromthe tip to the gape, or rather above one inch to the nostrils ; general colourof the plumage bright yellow green, in some lights almost of a golden colour,in others having a chesnut tinge ; from the nostrils to the hind part ofthehead a stripe of black extends, in which the eyes are placed: the chin andthroat are vivid yellow, edged all round by a line of blueish green, andbou nded below the throat with a straight bar of bright ultramarine blue.The breast is of the s ame colour with the back, and the rest ofthe under parts
* H