54 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



Piobaljly, however, this was owing to their being then actually on 

 passage. 



Tn this last-named country the arrival of the " Pizzaferri " or 

 ' Irou-Lilis," as the Bee-eaters are there called, is hailed with delight 

 by the Sicilian sportsmen, being supposed to herald an abundant 

 passage of Quails. Certainly the two species do arrive in Sicily 

 together in vast numbers, but so also do many other migrants, assisted 

 by the favourable wind that may be blowing. 



In Southern Italy, and probably throughout the Mediterranean 

 sub-region, the spring passage of the Bee-eater, like that of several 

 other migrants, is effected during the early hours of the day. Later 

 on the birds descend from the high altitudes at which they have been 

 travelling, and pass the remainder of the day hunting for food among 

 the olive-groves and other trees, in which they roost, preparatory 

 to the next day's journey. 



The return migration of the species in autumn is far less noticeable 

 than the spring passage, but this is probably due to the fact of its 

 being effected during the night, as mentioned by Colonel Irby (Orn. 

 Str. Gib. p. G()). 



Bee-eaters migrate m large Hocks, and their approach, even at 

 the height at which they travel, is made known long before the birds 

 are actually in sight by their unmistakable cry, which as the fiock 

 comes nearer, tills the air with its sound. Monotonous as this cry 

 no doubt is, coming out of the clear blue sky above, it strikes the 

 ear not unpleasantly, and has a certain charm about it, in my 

 particular case perhaps enhanced by old associations. Many pleasant 

 moments have I spent watching these gorgeously plumaged birds 

 wheeling round and round in gradually dimini,shing circles over some 

 olive-grove, or darting to and fro over the cornfields in pursuit of 

 insects, their brilliant colours flashing in the sun's rays like bui-nished 

 metal. 



The Bee-eater's flight is particularly bold and dashing, almost 

 rivalling that of the Swallow. Like the Eoller, the species seems 

 fond of perching on telegraph wires. When perching on trees, or 

 flying low down, the Bee-eater has another note, differing somewhat 

 from that which it utters when high in the air, and the noise a flock 

 of these birds make when settling down in some tree to roost, is a 

 veritable Babel of sound. Orange-groves, as well as olive-groves, are 

 greatly frequented by Bee-eaters for the sake of the bees attracted by 



