384 COMMON BEE-EATER. 



MEROPS, Linn. Generic characters. Bill 

 long, compressed, carinated, dilated at the 

 base ; wings long, pointed, first quill very 

 short, second longest in the wing ; tarsi and 

 feet short, exterior toes united, claws hooked, 

 strong, hind claw small. 



Note. Colours of the plumage vivid, shades 

 of green, yellow, and rich brown. Breed in 

 holes in banks, feed on the wing. 



Europe, Asia, Africa. 



COMMON BEE-EATER, MEROPS APIASTER. 

 Merops apiasler, Will. Linn. Common Bee- 

 Eater of British authors. This is another very 

 rare visitant. A few instances of its having 

 been seen and killed in England are recorded. 

 Mr Thompson states, that it has been taken once 

 or twice in Ireland; and it has been captured 

 about a like number of times in Scotland, of 

 which, we believe, the last is mentioned in the 

 Magazine of Natural History for 1&38. We can 

 look upon all these, howev^er, as only straggling 

 birds driven from their migratory course. On 

 the Continent, it appears sparingly in the middle 

 and southern parts, but is said to be common in 

 Spain, also in Sicily, and in Greece and Turkey. 

 In Southern Africa it is also frequent, and we have 

 received many specimens which do not seem to 

 vary from those killed in Europe. The Bee- 

 Eater feeds on insects, and in a great measure 

 on those of the genus hymenoptera, and from 



