MEROFID^ 



MEROPS 



59 



difficult problem to solve. The Bee-Eaters usually arrive in October 

 in flocks, which then scatter over the country. They are generally 

 noticed near farms where there are hives of bees, or among the 

 mountain valleys where there are wild bees, as these form their 

 chief food. They also prey on wasps, flies, and other insects 

 which they catch in the air when hawking round, or sometimes 

 watch for while perched on a post or twig ; the bees and other 

 stinging insects are very skilfully seized across the body, squeezed 

 and then swallowed. These birds fly well and swiftly; they are 

 often seen soaring at a considerable height, and when circling 

 around, they utter a cheerful chirruping note like that of a house- 

 martin, but somewhat louder. 



The European Bee-Eater was first noticed to breed in South 

 Africa by Mr. Henry Jackson at Nelspoort, near Beaufort West. 

 Subsequently Mr. Layard found them nesting on the Berg river, 

 and recently Mr. Marshall has stated that they breed in Mashona- 

 land ; while on October 27 of the present year (1901) a pair were 

 seen and an egg was taken at Klipfontein on the Cape Flats, about 

 twelve miles from Cape Town, by Mr. W. G. Fairbridge. A nest 

 with eggs was lately taken by Mr. Griflm also from near the Berg 

 Eiver on November 11. The nest-hole was in the perpendicular 

 bank of a narrow sluit or ditch running through a garden on Mr. 

 Kotze's farm. One side of the sluit was occupied by Sprews (Spreo 

 bicolor), the other by the Bee-Eaters ; the nest-holes ran inwards 

 horizontally for about three feet, and then sloped somewhat down- 

 wards for about the same distance and ended in a rounded chamber. 

 There was no nest, but the floor of the chamber was covered with 

 the hard, chitinous portions of the bees on which the Bee -Eaters 

 fed, and which had been thrown up in the form of castings. The 

 eggs, five in number, are rounded and glossy white, and average 

 1-05 x 0'87. The nest-holes are not always made in a per- 

 pendicular bank, but often in sloping or even flat ground, and there 

 are generally a considerable number of pairs breeding together in 

 one locality. 



406. Merops persicus. Blue-cheeked Bee-Eater. 



Merops persicus, Pallas, Peis. Russ. Reiclis, ii, Anhang, p. 708 (1773) ; 

 Dresser, Monogr. Merop. p. 63, pi. 16 (1884) ; Ayres, Ibis, 1885, p. 343 

 [Vaal K.] ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xvii, p. 66 (1892) ; Shelley, B. Afr. 

 i, p. Ill (1896) ; Woodward Bros. Natal B. p. 90 (1899) ; Alexander, 

 Ibis, 1900, p. 97 [Zambesi]. 



