MEROPS AFIASTER. 67 
eight or nine feet in all ; the end is enlarged into a round 
sort of chamber^ on the bare soil of which the usual four or 
five shining white eggs are placed ; after a little they become 
discoloured from the castings of the old birds, the nest being, 
as it were, lined with the wings and undigested parts of bees 
and wasps. Vast numbers of eggs and young must be an- 
nually destroyed by snakes and lizards : the latter are often 
seen sunning themselves at the entrance of a hole among a 
colony of Bee-eaters ; and frequently have I avenged the birds 
by treating the yellow reptile to a charge of shot. The bills 
of Bee-eaters, after boring out their habitations, are some- 
times worn away to less than half their usual length ; but as 
newly arrived birds never have these stumpy bills, it is evident 
that they grow again to their original length. It has often 
been a source of wonder to me how they have the strength to 
make these long tunnels ; the amount of exertion must be 
enormous ; but when one considers the holes of the Sand- 
Martin, it is perhaps not so surprising after all. 
During my stay at Gibraltar, Bee-eaters decreased very 
much in the neighbourhood, being continually shot on account 
of their bright plumage to put in ladies' hats. Owing to this 
sad fashion, I saw no less than seven hundred skins, all shot 
at Tangier in the spring of 1874, which were consigned by 
Olcese to some dealer in London. However, the enormous 
injury these birds do to the peasants who keep bees, fully 
merits any amount of punishment ; but at the same time they 
destroy quantities of wasps. After being fired at once or 
twice, they become very wary and shy at the breeding-places ; 
and the best way to shoot them is to hide near the colmenares, 
or groups of corchos or cork bee-hives, which in Spain are 
placed in rows sometimes to the number of seventy or eighty 
together ; and it is no unusual thing to see as many Bee- 
eaters wheeling round and swooping down, even seizing the 
bees at the very entrance of their hives. 
The reason of their early departure in August is to be 
accounted for by the simple fact that bees cease to work 
when there are no flowers ; and by that time all vegetation 
is scorched up. 
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