260 THE BIRDS OF NOBTHAMPTONSHIRE 



am still very sceptical : for besides the extreme 

 improbability of the Bee-eater nesting in this 

 country, the mention of bones in the said nest points 

 at once to the Kingfisher, the present species being 

 entirely insectivorous. The " wings " were, of course, 

 those of insects ; and so far their presence in the 

 nest is in favour of the Bee-eater theory. It is, of 

 course, not impossible that a Bee-eater might take 

 possession of the nesting-hole of a Kingfisher ; but 

 I consider that this part of the story is, to say 

 the least of it, somewhat " mixed,'"' though I have 

 no doubt as to Mr. Elliot's perfect good faith, 

 nor, as I have just stated, the fact of a Bee-eater 

 having been seen by him " in the flesh." I must 

 add that Mr. Elliot is perfectly w^ell acquainted 

 with the present species, and assured me that he 

 often saw the two birds at the spot above mentioned. 

 Mr. Andrew^s having migrated to Melton Mowbray, 

 could not be found by Mr. Elliot, who at my 

 request went thither to seek for him. I give the 

 whole story as it came to me ; and on this evidence 

 I trust that my readers will consider at least that 

 I am justified in recording the Bee-eater as having 

 occurred in the district of which I am treating. 



This beautiful bird is exceedingly common in 

 southern and many parts of central Spain, where we 

 have formed an intimate acqaintance with its habits. 

 It arrives in that country about the end of March or 

 beginning of April ; my friend Lieut. -Colonel Irby, 

 in his ' Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar,' notes 

 March 26th as the earliest, and April 7th as the 

 latest, date of arrival observed by him from 1868 to 

 1872, and adds "The latest flight I ever saw going 

 north was on the 7th of May." I was in Andalucia 



