THE BEE-EATERS. 461 
prey either on the wing, like the swallows, or secrete themselves at the 
entrance to a hive, and catch the inmates that enter or depart, whose 
stings they are skilful in avoiding. Living together in numerous 
flocks, they rapidly clear a district of wasps and bees. 
They build their nests in the banks of rivers or rivulets, in holes 
which they excavate to the depth of six or seven feet. Some species 
are highly esteemed as table delicacies by the French. 
The Bee-eaters inhabit the warmer regions of the Old World, 
such as Bengal, the west coast of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, 
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Fig. 183.—Brazilian Motmot. 
Morocco, Malta. One species alone is found in Europe, the 
Common Bee-eater (J@erops apiaster, Fig. 182). From the coast of 
Africa it migrates in small flocks into the countries skirting the 
northern shores of the Mediterranean. Some individuals proceed 
into France, Switzerland, and Germany; others spread themselves 
over Turkey and the southern parts of Russia. In England it is 
occasionally met with in Cornwall, Devonshire, and along the 
Hampshire coast. It has been shot in the Mull of Galloway. In 
France it arrives in the month of May, and remains but a short 
time. As a rule it rarely ventures further north than the south of 
France. 
‘The Motmots (AZomotus) are birds still very imperfectly known. 
