ANATOMY OF BIRDS
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
MIGRATIONS OF BIRDS
CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS
LIZARD-TAILED BIRD
AMERICAN TOOTHED-BIRDS
THE OSTRICHES
THE RHEAS
EMEUS AND CASSOWARIES
THE TINAMOUS
THE KIWIS
THE PENGUINS
LOONS AND GREBES
ALBATROSSES & PETRELS
STORK-LIKE BIRDS
GOOSE-LIKE BIRDS
FALCON-LIKE BIRDS
FOWL-LIKE BIRDS
CRANE-LIKE BIRDS
PLOVER-LIKE BIRDS
CUCKOO-LIKE BIRDS
THE ROLLER-LIKE BIRDS
SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE ROLLER-LIKE BIRDS
THE ROLLERS AND THEIR ALLIES
THE BEE-EATERS
Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters
The first genus to be considered (Dicrocercus) is exclusively African, and is distinguished at once by the long, deeply forked tail, whence the species are called the Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters. Of the two known species, one (D. furcatus) is found in West Africa, while the other (D. hirundineus) comes from the eastern and southern parts of the continent.
The first-mentioned species is a bird about eight inches long, of a golden green above, becoming cobalt-blue on the forehead and upper tail-coverts, while the primaries are pale chestnut edged with greenish and tipped with black, and the tail is greenish blue and golden olive, all but the middle and outer pairs tipped with white; there is a broad black stripe through the eye and ear-coverts which is succeeded by a narrow ashy white streak, while the cheeks and throat are orange-yellow, the lower throat ultramarine-blue, and the remainder of the lower parts greenish blue.
The other, slightly larger species is similar in coloration, differing only in the absence of blue on the forehead and eyebrow. Their habits are apparently similar to those of Bee-eaters in general.
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