21 
BEE-EATER. 
YELLOW-THROATED BEE-EATER; COMMON BEE-EATER. 
GNAT-SNAPPER. 
Merops apiaster, LiInnzus. PENNANT. 
ie chrysocephalus, LATHAM. 
“ Galileus, HASSELQUIST. 
Jlerops—A bird that eateth bees. Apiaster. Apis—A bee. 
Tur splendid-plumaged Bee-eater holds some affinity, as 
will appear, to the Swallows—in its flight, manner of taking 
its food, nidification, the shortness of its legs, and the appear- 
ance of its eggs. In Italy it is esteemed good eating, and 
is sold in the markets accordingly. Perhaps the taste may 
have descended from Heliogabalus; for, if I remember right, 
even the gay exterior of birds was called into requisition to 
give zest to the ‘recherché’ character of his ‘gourmanderie,’ 
so to gallicize a word for the occasion. 
In Asia Minor and the adjacent countries to the north, 
and in North “Africa, these birds are extremely abundant, and 
may often be seen flying about in thousands. In various 
parts of Europe they are also plentiful, in small flocks of 
twenty or thirty, the more so towards the East—in Turkey 
and Greece; in Spain also, from its proximity to Africa; 
Portugal, Italy, Crete, the Archipelago, Malta, Sardinia, and 
Sicily; as also, though in fewer. numbers, in France, Switzerland, 
and Germany; likewise in Madeira. Two were killed in Sweden, 
a male and female, in 1816. 
In Yorkshire one, described in the paper as a ‘Beef-eater,’ 
was obtained near Sheffield, about the year 1849; in Surrey, 
one near Godalming; in Kent, one at Kingsgate, in the Isle 
of Thanet, in May, 1827; in Hampshire, one at Christchurch, 
