Sub-fam. 1. Halcyoninae.–Tanysiptera sabrina of the Moluccas, one of the members of a large and very beautiful genus, is white, except for the crown and wing-coverts, which are bright blue, and the cheeks, nape, remiges, upper back and scapulars, which are bluish-black. The two median rectrices have bluish shafts with white racquet-tips; the bill is red. T. nympha of New Guinea differs in its blue tail, vermilion rump and under parts. Cittura cyanotis of Celebes has a rufous head and chestnut tail, a brown back with partially buff scapulars, bluish-black wings with blue coverts, a blue eye-streak (black in the female), a lilac under surface, and a dark red bill. Halcyon coromandus of Eastern Asia is brown with a lovely lilac tinge above and a sky-blue rump, the lower parts being orange-rufous, and the bill red. H. cyaniventris of Java is rich blue above; the head and wing-coverts are mainly black, the lower parts ultramarine, the throat and cheeks rufous, extending as a collar to the nape; the bill is dark red. H. semicaeruleus of Arabia, West and East Africa, has a whitish head and under parts, with a chestnut abdomen; the upper parts are black, with azure lower back, tail and wing-quills, the bill is red. H. saurophagus of Papuasia and the Moluccas is blue, with white head and under surface, and black bill. H. nigrocyaneus of the former region is black and blue, with white throat, pectoral band and dorsal markings, the bill being black. The female is whiter below. H. lindsayi has dingy green upper parts with buff spots, and a black eye-stripe surmounted by an azure band, both of which extend round the back of the head; the neck and throat are cinnamon divided by a blue stripe, the under parts white mottled with green; the bill is black. The blue parts are green in the female.
Dacelo gigas, the "Laughing Jackass" or "Settlers' Clock" of Australia, is mainly brown above with a white stripe on each side of the head; the tail is rufous and black, the rump of the same colour in the female, greenish-blue in the male; the lower surface is dirty white, the bill blackish. Clytoceyx rex of New Guinea has an immensely thick, blunt, and rather short bill; it is brown above, with a rufous collar, blackish back and neck-stripes, light azure rump, greenish tail and wing-quills; below it is light chestnut with white throat. Carcineutes pulchellus of the Malay countries, Sumatra, and Java has the forehead, cheeks, and collar chestnut, the crown azure, the upper parts black with blue and white bands, the under parts rufous with white throat, the bill red. The female is rufous with black bars above, and white with black spotting below. Syma torotoro of Papuasia is greenish, with blue tail and rump, orange-rufous head and under parts, and a black collar. The crown is black in the female. The serrated bill is yellow. The genera Ispidina and Ceyx furnish the pygmies of the Family, varying from about four to six inches in length; the coloration in the former is usually blue and black above and chestnut below, with a red bill; but I. madagascariensis of Madagascar is entirely rufous, except for some white on the neck and lower surface. C. euerythra, of the Malay countries and the Philippines, which is red with a lilac tinge above, has several similar congeners; here again, however, blue, black, and orange are not uncommon hues.
Sub-fam. 2. Alcedininae.–Alcyone azurea of Australia has dark azure-blue upper parts, reddish-orange lower surface with lighter throat, and a whitish patch on the sides of the neck. Corythornis cristata is ultramarine with light chestnut under parts, the crest being green with black transverse stripes, and the bill black. Alcedo ispida of Britain, the whole of Europe, and the greater part of Asia, has greenish-blue upper parts, brighter blue head and tail, chestnut under parts and broad eye-streak, white throat and patches at the side of the neck, and black bill, often orange at the base. A. beryllina of Java and Lombok differs in being entirely greenish-blue above, and white with a blue chest-band below. Ceryle is the sole genus found in the New World, though it occurs also in South-East Europe, most of Asia and Africa; C. alcyon, the Belted Kingfisher, alone reaches the Northern United States and Canada. The half dozen large crested species are generally black and white, relieved by chestnut or grey, but C. amazona and its nearest allies are dull green above.
Pelargopsis gurial of India and Assam, one of the "Stork-billed Kingfishers," has a brown head, yellowish-fawn collar and under parts, dull green mantle and tail, greenish-blue lower back, and red beak.
Fam. IV. Meropidae.–The Bee-eaters are extremely brilliant and graceful birds, which range over the temperate and tropical portions of the Old World, being especially plentiful in the Ethiopian Region, and somewhat less so in the Indian. The Palaearctic countries possess only four species, but Celebes alone has three, one of which (Merops ornatus) extends through the Moluccas to Papuasia and Australia.
The bill is long and gradually curved, with a culminar ridge and deflected mandible, the maxilla being grooved and more arched in Nyctiornis. The short, stout metatarsus, which is weaker in Merops, is scutellated anteriorly and reticulated posteriorly; the abbreviated toes–rather longer in Nyctiornis–have slender curved claws, and are united in the case of the third and fourth to the last joint, in the second and third to a less extent. The usually short and rounded wings are long and pointed in Merops and Dicrocercus; the primaries number eleven, or ten in Nyctiornis, and the secondaries twelve or thirteen. The tail of twelve rectrices is even in Melittophagus and Nyctiornis, deeply forked in Dicrocercus, and square with two elongated and tapering median feathers in Merops and Meropogon. The furcula is U-shaped, the tongue is lanceolate, the nostrils are concealed by dense feathers in Nyctiornis and Meropogon; the syrinx is tracheo-bronchial, the aftershaft is rudimentary; while there is no down in adults or nestlings.
The flight of Bee-eaters is rapid and Swallow-like, and they have a habit of sitting on dead branches or even upright sticks, from which they dart in pursuit of their prey, to return again promptly after the manner of Flycatchers. They skim actively over the surface of the earth, sail aloft in circles, or float with slightly upturned wings in the air; while they rest among the foliage at mid-day, and not uncommonly roost in a row on some branch at night. Occasionally they may be seen dusting themselves like Larks. Nyctiornis is less energetic, and loves dense forest-shades or woods of lofty trees, as does Meropogon; but the other forms prefer more open country, and frequent the neighbourhood of swamps or rivers, as well as arid districts. Merops is constantly seen in flocks, Melittophagus less often; Nyctiornis, with rare exceptions, lives singly or in pairs. The last-named sometimes will not stir even when shot at, and none of the Family are by nature shy. The note is, according to circumstances, a loud harsh whistle or a soft flute-like sound; but Nyctiornis utters a deep croak, ending in a churring noise, puffing out the gular plumes meanwhile and nodding the head up and down. The birds are not ordinarily noisy. It is when hawking in the air that the brilliant colours are most strikingly displayed, the snap of the bill being at such times distinctly audible; insects are also picked off the backs of cattle, and, more rarely, captured on the ground; while Merops philippinus, and no doubt other species, bruise their prey against their perch. The name Bee-eater is well deserved, for in Spain Merops apiaster is a perfect pest to the bee-keeper, catching the workers as they enter and leave the hives. The indigestible portions of the food are cast up as pellets, often found in the nest. The four to six round, glossy white eggs are deposited in holes in banks, or even in tunnels bored vertically downwards in level ground, which extend to a depth of from three to ten feet. Merops superciliosus and M. nubicus alone are said to make a slight nest of straw and feathers, the members of this genus and of Melittophagus often forming large colonies. The flesh is palatable, while the plumage is in great request for decorative purposes.
The sexes are similar, the young duller, with the rectrices never much elongated; Meropogon and Nyctiornis have the gular feathers broad and lengthened into a tuft.
Fig. 81.–Bee-eater. Merops apiaster. × 3⁄7.