200 BIRDS. 



2 or 3 feet in length, its eggs are laid and its young 

 reared on a dirty bed of fish-bones and excrement. The 

 bird rears two broods, and it has been said, though I 

 never found them so myself, that the second clutch is 

 laid before the first brood of young are fledged. Eggs, 

 6 to 8, i inch ; glossy white, and globular in shape. 



[The Belted Kingfisher, a North- American bird, is said 

 to have occurred twice in Ireland, but few authorities 

 seem satisfied with the admission of this species to the 

 British list.] 



5. THE ROLLER. 



The Roller is a rare and irregular visitor to these islands. 

 Its home is in Africa. It is a beautiful bird, the prevail- 

 ing colours of its plumage being light and dark blue. 

 [Two Abyssinian Rollers were said to have been obtained 

 in Scotland many years ago, but their claim to rank as 

 British birds is rejected.] 



6. THE BEE-EATER. 



The Bee- eater is but an occasional wanderer on migration 

 to the British Islands, chiefly to the southern counties of 

 England and Wales. Quite recently it was reported in 

 the 'Field,' as far north as Caithness, in the month of 

 May. I have taken its white eggs from holes in the 

 hills round Florence. It is easily known by its long 

 green tail with black tips, and the yellow throat with 

 black cravat. 



7. *THE HOOPOE. 



The Hoopoe, a remarkable-looking bird, with reddish, 

 black-tipped crest and conspicuous white bars on the wings 

 and tail, breeds sparingly where it is not immediately shot 

 on its arrival in our southern counties in spring. More 

 often, alas ! its beauty rouses the greed of the local pot- 



