140 



THE AZURE-THROATED BEE- EATER. 



plumage is remarkably handsome ; being painted wltli rich, and at the same time with 

 extremely delicate, hues of many colors. Green predominates throughout the group, a 

 verditer-blue seeming to be generally mixed with the green. 8ome species, such as the Nubian 

 Bee-eater {Merops nuhius), are clothed in bright red ; while others, such as the Rose-breasted 

 Night-feeder {Nyctiornis amicta), are decorated with a rich rose tint ujjon the face and 

 breast. 



NUBIAN BEE-EATER.— J/ez-o/yj nuUciu. 



The common Bee-eatee is very frequently found in many parts of the European Con- 

 tinent. 



Undaunted by the poisoned weapons of the wasp, hornet, or bee, the bird makes many 

 a meal upon these insects, contriving to swallow them without suflPering any inconvenience 

 from their stings. It is probable that there may be some peculiarity in the structure of this 

 and several other birds, that I'enders them indifferent to the poisonous influence of the sting, 

 for it is difficult to account for their immunity on any other theory. jMr. Yarrell imagines 

 that tlie Bee-eater renders its prey harmless by much pinching and biting, and that by 

 "repeated compression, particularly in the abdomen, the sting is either squeezed out, or its 

 muscular attachments so deranged, tliat the sting itself is harmless." 



The truly magnificent Azure-throated Bee-eater is an inhabitant of India, and is found, 

 although very rarely, in the interior of that country. 



It is a very rare bird, perhaps not so mucli on account of the actual paucity of its 

 numbers, as from its extreme shyness, and the nature of the localities where it makes its 

 residence. The home of this bird is always in the deepest recesses of the vast Indian forests, 

 and in spite of its glowing colors and noisy tongue, it is so wary and fearful of man that 

 it is seldom seen. When fairly discovered, however, it often falls an easy prey to the native 

 hunter on account of the extreme nervousness of its nature. The I'eport of a gun in close 

 proximity will have such an effect ujion its nervous system as to afflict it with a momentary 

 paralysis, and it sometimes happens that in the great hunting expeditions of the native chiefs, 



