68 Kev. F. C. R. Jounlain on the 



102. Merops aptaster L. Bee-eater. 



Local names : Maduraiolo (Giglioli) ; Taragiola (south), 

 Barbarotolo. 



A common migrant on passage, considerable numbers 

 remaining to breed in the low ground on the east side of the 

 island, especially in the south-east, and in the Campo de 

 I'Oro. Whitehead noted the first arrivals on April 19, 1883, 

 and April 14, 1884, but in the north-east Wharton saw none 

 till April 30. In Corsica the nesting-burrows are not made 

 in steep banks, but generally in almost level ground, the 

 entrance being made in the side of some shallow depression. 

 Whitehead describes the tunnels as about 9 £t. long, but 

 those Avhich we opened were about 5 ft. long and were made 

 in exceedingly hard ground. We found the first full 

 clutch of seven eggs on May 29. The nests examined by 

 Whitehead on June 4 all contained full sets of from five to 

 seven eggs, very dirty and half-buried in beetles' wings, &c., 

 " a moving mass of small maggots and various kinds of 

 lice." 



[^Cnracias garrulus L. Roller. No record of this con- 

 spicuous species in Corsica appears to exist, and it is 

 evidently scarce in Sardinia, although it might be well 

 expected to occur on passage.] 



103. Upupa epops L. Hoopoe. 



Local names : Papjiagallo (Giglioli) ; Galeto di Marzo 

 (north), Pupugia (south). 



A fairly common summer resident in the lower ground, 

 but not ascending to any height in the mountains. Dates 

 of first arrival : March 24, 1883, and March 30, 1884 

 [Whitehead); March 27, 1910 (Parrot). The breeding- 

 season seems to be rather irregular. I found a nest M'ith 

 four fresh eggs deep down in an olive stump on May 9; 

 while Whitehead obtained a clutch of six fresh eggs from a 

 stone wall on INIay 27, and found four full-grown young in 

 a nest in an old tree on June 7. Parrot remarks that the 

 wing-measurement of a male from the Camp de I'Oro is 

 small (146 mm.). 



