BEE-EATERS. 55 



birds themselves, either in a retired bank of a river or in the sides of a road, 

 and the tunnels varying in length from one foot to seven feet, with the chamber 

 at the end larger than the rest of the excavation. The direction of the passage 

 is not always straight, Davison stating that he has found some of them, after a 

 depth of twelve or eighteen inches turning off almost at a right angle, while 

 others took an almost circular direction. There is no nest in the chamber, and 

 the eggs are laid on the bare floor of the chamber, which is about six inches 

 in diameter. 



Of somewhat larger size than the last, the true bee-eaters 

 True Bee-Eaters. . . 



(Merops) are represented by seventeen species, all distinguished by 



the central tail-feathers being elongated beyond the others. Of these, eight are 

 peculiar to Africa, while two (M. persicus and M. viridis) inhabit both Africa and 

 India; Arabia owning two species, namely, M. cyanophrys from Aden, and 

 J/. muscatensis from Muscat. In Europe M, apiaster is common in summer, 

 M. philippinus abounds from the Indian Peninsula to Southern China and even 

 extends over the greater part of Malaysia, while M. ornatus is Australian. 

 Two (M. bicolor and M. sumatranus) are confined to the Indian region, and 

 one of the handsomest species is M. breveri from the Gabun and the Congo 

 in West Africa. The common bee-eater (M, apiaster) is a rather large species, 

 measuring 10 inches in length, with the wings 5'9, and the tail 4'5 inches. The 

 head and mantle are chestnut, the back and scapulars creamy buff, the lower back 

 washed with blue like the upper tail-coverts ; the lesser wing-coverts are green, 

 but the rest are chestnut like the secondaries, which are tipped with black ; the 

 quills are blue with blackish tips ; the tail green with blue edges, the central 

 feathers almost entirely blue ; the cheeks are blue in front, white behind, the 

 crown chestnut, with a white band on the forehead, followed by a blue line 

 joining a narrow blue eyebrow ; the throat is yellow, with a black band across the 

 lower part ; the rest of the under surface greenish blue ; the bill black ; the feet 

 greyish brown ; and the iris yellow. The sexes are alike in colour, but the young 

 are paler, having a green eyebrow, with the black bar on the lower throat, and 

 show a general wash of green over the head, mantle, and back. This bee-eater 

 visits Southern Europe regularly every summer, and is found as far east as 

 Turkestan, Kashmir, and Sind ; breeding in Afghanistan and plentifully in Kashmir. 

 Its habits are like those of other bee-eaters, the bird taking its food on the wing, and 

 being very destructive to bees in certain parts of Southern Europe, visiting the hives 

 and capturing the insects as they fly out and in. In winter it visits all parts of 

 Africa, and is even said to rear a second brood in its winter home. Several species 

 of European birds are, indeed, reported to nest in the southern countries where they 

 winter, but although these records must be received with caution, in the case of the 

 common bee-eater the evidence is certainly remarkable, for Mr. Layard says that not 

 only did he receive information of the breeding of the species, but he himself found 

 it nesting in large numbers on the Berg River in September and October. He 

 observes that "it does not always select a bank into which to bore the hole 

 destined for its nest, for we found one flat piece of sandy ground perforated with 

 numberless holes, into which the birds were diving and scrambling like so many 

 rats." 



