49 
52. CoTYLE RIPARIA Ce Sere ot se 209 i Mol, etPhiwie 
Sanp-Marrin. 
Arrives early in spring, assembles in flocks, breeds in colonies, 
makes a slight nest in a hole in a sandbank, and, after rearing 
its young, departs south on the first chilly days of August or Sep- 
tember. 
Hae OTUIE RIPARTA Gi. ¥si) aficie) sone col? sy , Vol..E Pl. Wilt. 
Sanp-Martrn (young) 
as seen, on the bank of the Thames, in the month of August, prior 
to departure south. 
Genus Proene. 
54. PRoGNE PURPUREA. 
Purple Martin. 
A strictly American form, of which four or five examples are 
said to have been killed in our islands—one near Dublin, one in 
Yorkshire, and two at Kingsbury in Middlesex. 
? 
Genus 
55. BICOLOR. 
White-bellied Swallow. 
Another American form, for which a generic title has not yet 
been proposed. It is said that a specimen has been killed near 
Derby ; vide Wolley, in the ‘Zoologist’ for 1853, p. 3806, and 
Newton in ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1860, p. 131. 
Family MEROPID/#. 
The members of this family are among the most ornamental of 
the Insessorial birds, and are as elegant in form as they are beautiful 
in colour. Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia are the countries 
in which one or other of the not very numerous species are found. 
As the thinness of their plumage and the slightness of their form 
would indicate, they appear to be sensitive to cold; and most of 
them are resident in the tropical or warmer portions of the coun- 
tries mentioned, though one species, the Merops apiaster, is very 
common in Spain. Insects of the various orders constitute their 
chief food. The species have been divided into several genera. 
Genus Mrrops. 
The species inhabiting Europe is the type of this form. 
Soa MERROPS APTASTER 9. 2 3 os es Vol. II. Pl. IX. 
BrEE-EATER. 
Although there are many instances of the occurrence of this bird 
in Britain, it can only be regarded as an accidental visitor; and 
E 
