THE BEE-EATER. 151 



length, at the end of which they place their nests. The birds perform 

 this work by means of their short and pointed bills, using them after 

 the manner of a pickaxe, while they cling with their sharp claws to 

 the face of the bank. As the cavity deepens they force their bodies 

 into it, and push the debris out with their feet. When they have 

 tunneled a sufficient distance, they deposit at the inner end a little 

 hay or wool, or a few small feathers, upon which from four to six 

 white eggs are laid. Two broods are hatched in the season, the first 

 being able to fly by the middle of June, and the second towards the 

 end of July. 



Like the rest of their genus, these birds feed exclusively upon insects, 

 which they capture on the wing. 



The males and females differ little either in size or plumage. The 

 length is about five inches. The bill is black; the irides brown; the 

 legs, toes, and claws reddish brown. The general colour of the upper 

 parts is greyish brown; of the breast and lower parts brownish white. 



THE BEE-EATER, 



(Merops apiaster.) 

 PLATE IX. FIGURE VH. 



THE Bee-eater, sometimes called the Gnat-snapper, is but a rare 

 visitor to the British Isles, although abundant in some parts of the 

 continent of Europe. In Africa it is said to be extensively distributed, 

 and from thence small flocks find their way into Spain, Portugal, 

 Greece, and other countries bordering on the Mediterranean. In Italy 

 it is sold in the markets for food. A few individuals have also been 

 met with in Switzerland, France, and Germany, and two were killed 

 in Sweden in 1816. The first specimen obtained in this country, was 

 shot out of a flock of about twenty, at Mattishall, in Norfolk, in June, 

 1794, and a portion of the same flock was observed passing over the 

 same spot in the following October. Since that time others have been 

 obtained in Yorkshire, Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Dorsetshire, and Hamp- 

 shire. 



In Ireland, one was taken on the sea shore near Wexford, in the 

 winter of 1820, another in the county of Wicklow, and two others 

 occurred in the interior. In Scotland, one was shot in the Mull of 

 Galloway, in October, 1832 



