BEE- EATER 



63 



from central and southern Europe into western Asia, avoids the magpie everywhere, 

 and never nests in the same localities as that bird. The hoopoe ranges from 

 Europe and North Africa all through Asia to the Pacific. The kingfisher, although 

 not met with quite so far east, inhabits the same latitudes in western Asia as in 

 Europe. The bee-eater {Merops apiaatcr) principally inhabits the countries 

 around the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Like the other members of its kind, 

 this beautiful bird is distinguishable at a glance by the two long feathers in the 

 middle of the tail, which end in sharp points. Generally speaking, this bee-eater 

 lives on the steep banks of rivers, or by the sea, and from there visits sand} 7 plains 

 and flowery meadows, grassy mountains, and the skirts of forests. In flight it is 

 exceedingly graceful, executing the boldest curves, serenely moving in the upper 

 air, or fluttering close above the ground, catching insects as it flies. Like the 

 swallows, it does 

 not walk with ease, k 



* 



and when on the 

 ground moves 

 about with short 

 tripping steps. It 

 perches on hillocks, 

 stones, or bare 

 branches ; and re- 

 sembles the swal- 

 lows in being 

 gregarious, especi- 

 ally during the 

 breeding - season, 

 where it may be 

 seen in thousands. 

 The nests and sleep- 

 ing - places are a 

 labyrinth of bur- 

 rows, excavated 

 close together in 

 sandy or soft 



ground by the beak and claws. The colonies are generally found in river banks and 

 occasionally on flat stretches of sand a yard or two underground. The bee-eater 

 feeds on wasps, bees, hornets, and other hymenopterous insects, and takes up its 

 position near a wasp-nest or bee-hive to catch the owners as they fly in or out. 



The bee-eater is a bird of passage, which arrives on its nesting-grounds in 

 April and leaves in August. In Greece it arrives earlier and remains longer. 

 Sometimes it extends its migrations beyond the northern boundaries of its area, 

 and then appears in Britain, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and elsewhere: 

 Its principal breeding-grounds are, however, in the Mediterranean countries, and 

 round the Black Sea ; but the species ranges from Spain and southern France, 

 through Turkey, Asia Minor, and Persia to Turkestan and Kashmir. During 

 migration the bee-eater is found throughout northern Africa, and even makes its 



V^ 



BEE-EATERS. 



