114 INSESSORES. MEROPS. BEE-EATER. 



COMMON BEE-EATER. 



MEROPS APIASTEE, Linn. 

 PLATE XLI. 



Merops Apiaster, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 182. 1 Gmel Syst. 1. p. 460 Lath. 



Ind. Ornith. v. 1. p. 269. 1 Raii Syn. p. 49. 3 Will. p. 102. t. 24 



Briss. 4. p. 582. 



Merops Chrysocephalus, Lath. Ind. Ornith. v. 1. 273. 11. 

 Merops Galilaeus, Hassel. It. 247. 

 Le Guepier, Buff. Ois. v. 6. p. 480. t. 23, Id. PI. Enl. 938 Le Vaitt. Ois. 



de Parad, et Fromer, v. 3. pi. 1. and 2. 

 Le Guepier vulgaire, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. 1. p. 420. 

 Bienfresser, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. v. 2. p. 1099 Meyer, Tasschenb. Deut. 



1. p. 132. Id. Vog. Deut. v. 1. t. Heft. 10. male and female Frisch, 



Vog. t. 221. the female, t. 222. male. 

 Yellow-throated Bee-Eater, Lath. Syn. v. 2.\p. 678. 

 Common Bee-Eater, Will. (Ang.) p. 147 Albin. 2. t. 44 Linn. Trans. 



3. p. 333 Lath. Syn. 2. p. 667 Id. Supp. p. 119 Mont. Ornith. Diet. 



Id. Supp Shaw's Zool. 8. p. 152 Bewick's Br. Birds, ed. 1826, p. t. 



146. 



Occasional OF late years, several individuals of this species have been 

 'killed in England ; which facts authorise me to include it in 

 the list of the British birds, as an occasional visitant. It is 

 met with, during the summer months, in various parts of the 

 European Continent, viz. in the southern districts of France 

 and Germany, in Spain, Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia. It is 

 very numerous along the southern borders of Russia, parti- 

 cularly upon the Don and the Wolga, in the banks of which 

 rivers it breeds, digging long horizontal holes for that pur- 

 Nest, &c. pose. The nest is composed of moss, and other soft mate- 

 rials ; and the eggs, of a pure white, are from five to seven 

 in number. Upon the approach of autumn, these birds as- 

 semble in large flocks, and depart for more southern lati- 

 tudes. 



Food. The food of the Bee-Eater consists of that tribe of insects 



from whence its name has been bestowed, as well as other 

 winged insects, all of which it captures during its flight, like 

 the Swallow. On the wing its motion is rapid, and its con- 



