^-=^z^^^^^fe-'?^^^/^ 



BEE-EATER.— Merops apiaster. 



shot by a farmer, although it had escaped from a house in the same little village. The 

 destructive propensity is truly developed to a wonderful extent in some persons, who quite 

 justify the sarcastic foreigner in his remark, that a heavenly day always inspires an 

 Englishman with a desire to go out and kill something. 



The food of the Bee-eater consists wholly of insects, the bees and others of the 

 hymenopterous order being the favourite article of diet. In chasing these insects, which are 

 for the most part very active of flight, the Bee-eater displays very great command of 

 wing, and while urging its pursuit, can twist and turn in the air with as much ease and 

 skill as is exhibited by the swallow or the roller. 



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 sufiering any 

 inconvenience from their stings. It is probable that there may be some peculiarity in the 

 structure of this and several other birds, that renders them indifferent to the poisonous 

 influence of the sting, for it is difficult to account for their immunity on any other theory. 

 Mr. Yarrell imagines that the 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, that the sting itseK is harmless." 



I cannot coincide in this opinion, for the sting cannot be entirely squeezed out of the 

 abdomen by any amount of pressure, and its poisonous properties are quite as rife after it 

 has been separated from the muscular attachments as during its connexion with them. I 

 speak from experience, having suffered rather severely from the effect of a sting which I 

 had received from a common honey-bee, and which was carelessly suffered to pierce the 

 skin of my thumb. In the case of a wasp, too, we may also have noticed that after the 

 abdomen has been completely crushed, the sting appears to j)ossess a separate vitality of 

 its own, and moves about as if still guided by the will of its dead owner. 



To the apiarian, who resides in the same country with the Bee-eater, the bird is a 

 terrible foe, as it has an insatiable appetite for the honey-making insects, and haunts 

 every spot where it is likely to meet them. The hives are constantly visited by the 

 Bee-eaters, who are ingenious enough to resort to the turpentine pines for the sake of 

 catching the bees that come to carry away the exudations for the purpose of converting 



