262 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



companions. These birds resort within a few days 

 of their arrival to their breeding-places, which are 

 generally tunnels in the banks of rivers and ravines, 

 sometimes in a slight elevation in open sandy ground ; 

 in this last case the Bee-eater bores down vertically 

 for a short distance, and then runs a horizontal shaft 

 for perhaps two or three feet to the breeding-chamber, 

 which is merely a slight enlargement of the tunnel. 

 In a steep bank the tunnels often run in a horizontal 

 direction to a distance of six or seven feet ; no nest 

 is made, but an accumulation of the castings of the 

 birds, as in the case of the Kingfisher, is often to be 

 met with under and around the eggs, which are 

 generally from four to six in number, of a translucent 

 white, and very much rounded. This species seems 

 to leave its breeding-haunts as soon as the young are 

 strong on the wing ; and after the middle of August 

 very few are to be seen in Andalucia. Colonel Irby 

 is, no doubt, perfectly correct in attributing this 

 comparatively early departure to the fact that in that 

 country all vegetation is scorched up at the season 

 just mentioned, and there are no flowers for the bees 

 and other honey-seeking insects to work upon. The 

 Bee-eater often takes its prey from its perch, return- 

 ing to the same spot after the capture, in the manner 

 of the Flycatcher, Shrikes, and other insectivorous 

 birds. We have met with these brilliant birds in 

 Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, the Ionian Islands, Cyprus, 

 and Algeria. 



