BEE-EATERS. 51 



GENUS MEROPS. (LiNN.) 



The generic characters of Merops are the fol- 

 lowing : the beak is long, compressed, slightly 

 bent, slender, but broad at the base ; the upper 

 part keeled or ridged ; the tip entire, sharp, and 

 not hooked. The wings are long, pointed; the 

 second quill the longest. The tail is lengthened. 

 The feet are short, with strong curved claws. 



Like the Swallows, which, in appearance, they 

 so much resemble, the Bee-eaters take their in- 

 sect-prey on the wing ; and as this consists largely 

 of bees and wasps, it is remarkable that they are 

 not stung. They burrow in the banks of rivers, 

 digging their nestling holes to a considerable 

 depth. 



The European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster, 

 LINN.) is a common summer visitor to the coun- 

 tries that border the Mediterranean, and has in 

 a few rare instances been observed in the British 

 islands. A flock of about twenty was seen in 

 Norfolk in the year 1794, out of which one was 

 shot, and exhibited at a meeting of the Linnean 

 Society. It is a beautiful bird ; the upper plum- 

 age is of a rich orange-brown, passing into yel- 

 low ; the throat is yellow, with a collar of black ; 

 the wings, tail, and under parts are glossy greenish 

 blue, changing with the play of light. 



The prey which the Bee-eater selects has been 

 observed from early times; both the Greek and 

 Roman writers on rural economy have noticed it 

 among the animals whose depredations on the in- 

 dustrious tenants of the hive must be watched 

 against. Its destruction has a double object ; 



