BEE-EATER. 201 



summer of 1794, wlien a communication was made to the 

 Linnean Society, and a specimen of this beautiful bird was 

 exhibited by the president, Sir James Edward Smith, which 

 had been shot out of a flock of about twenty near Mattishall, 

 in Norfolk, in the month of June, by the Rev. George 

 Smith, and a portion probably of this same flight, much di- 

 minished in numbers, was observed passing over the same 

 spot in the month of October following. Since that time 

 several have been shot in different parts of this country, 

 which will be noticed when stating the geographical range of 

 the species. 



This bird, like tlie Roller last described, is a native of 

 Africa, and according to Le Vaillant and Dr. Andrew Smith, 

 goes nearly as far south as the Cape. It is found also at 

 Madeira, and from North Africa passes over the Mediterra- 

 nean, and is found periodically in considerable numbers at 

 Gibraltar, Sardinia, Malta, and Sicily. " These birds," 

 says Mr. Swainson, who lived four or five years in Sicily 

 and its vicinity, " occasionally visit Italy in flocks of twenty 

 or thirty, and may be seen skimming over the vineyards and 

 olive plantations with a flight much resembling the Swallow, 

 though more direct and less rapid. From the northern 

 shores of the Mediterranean these flocks pass on to the Con- 

 tinent before them. Colonel Montagu says, " It probably 

 breeds in some parts of Spain and Portugal, as he was assured 

 by an officer that it was not uncommon about Badajos, where 

 he observed a considerable number flying about like Swallows, 

 but that they frequently pitched, and assembled together in 

 trees in the gardens. This was in the spring of the year 

 1811, while the allied army was encamped before Badajos." 



In Spain these birds are also observed about the rocky 

 country of Aragon. Polydore Roux includes them among 

 the Birds of Provence, and a few every year frequent the 

 southern parts of Switzerland, France, and Germany. The 



