56 



generally flying high in the air, almost out of sight, seldom stop- 

 ping or descending near the ground. They cross the Straits for 

 the most part early in the day, flight following flight for hours in 

 succession, always exactly in the same direction, due north. 

 The latest date on which Colonel Irby noticed a flight going 

 north was the 7th of May. The return migration takes place 

 early in the year, about the end of July and the early part of 

 August, the 29th of August being the latest day on which a 

 Bee-Eater was seen by the above-named observer. 



The Bee-Eater commences to nest directly after its arrival, 

 and the eggs are laid about the second week in May, some 

 time being occupied in excavating the tunnels, at the end of 

 which the nesting-chamber is excavated. Some of these are of 

 great length, extending for some eight or nine feet in the banks 

 of rivers, and Colonel Irby states that the bills of the birds be- 

 come much worn away by the process of boring, but grow 

 again to their normal length in course of time. The holes are 

 sometimes drilled into the ground " in a slightly vertical direc- 

 tion, or into an elevated mound," when no suitable river-banks 

 are available for their work. Generally the birds nest in large 

 colonies, but occasionally only a few holes are found together, 

 and Colonel Irby says that vast quantities of eggs and young 

 birds must annually be devoured by Snakes and Lizards. The 

 habits of the Bee-Eater also render it an object of detestation 

 to the peasantry, as the birds swoop down in the vicinity of 

 the hives and carry off numbers of the bees, so that, as Mr. 

 Howard Saunders records, " sacks-full of birds are taken in 

 Spain by spreading a net over the face of an occupied bank, 

 and pouring water into a parallel trench cut at some distance 

 back." It is as well, therefore, that the Bee-Eater does rear a 

 second brood far away in South Africa, for it has many enemies 

 in its northern home, and none greater than its own beautiful 

 plumage, which causes it to be frequently in demand as an 

 ornament (!) for ladies' hats. " During my stay at Gibraltar," 

 writes Colonel Irby, " Bee-Eaters decreased very much in the 

 neighbourhood, being continually shot on account of their 

 bright plumage to put in ladies' hats. Owing to this vile 

 fashion, we saw no less than seven hundred skins, all shot in 

 Tangier in the spring, which were consigned to some dealer in 

 London." 



