422 CLASS AVES. 



racter of the Common Bee-eater to distinguish it. It is ten 

 or twelve inches iong, and is found in various parts of 

 Europe, but no where more plentifully than in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Gibraltar, where they make their nests in holes 

 in sand-banks. These holes penetrate the bank about three 

 feet, and then take a rectangular direction for about three 

 feet more, where a large cavity is formed for the nests, in 

 which are deposited six or seven white eggs, rather less than 

 those of the blackbird. 



The bee-eater is not, however, confined to Europe ; but 

 is common in the southern latitudes of Russia, in India, and 

 especially in Southern Africa, where it is said to guide the 

 Hottentots to the wild honey in the woods. 



It has been, though very rarely, seen in this country ; a 

 flock of them is recorded in the Linnaean Transactions, to 

 have appeared in Norfolk, in 1793 ; and we have inserted the 

 figure of one shot by Mr. Geslin, in Devonshire, in the 

 year 1827. 



We have also inserted a figure of a bee-eater, in the exten- 

 sive and valuable collection of the Zoological Society. This 

 species was brought from Sumatra by the late lamented Sir 

 Stamford Raffles, and belongs, like the common species, to 

 that division of the genus, distinguishable by the elongation 

 of the middle tail-feathers. 



The top of the head, and half down the back, are of a rich 

 brown colour ; the throat, rump, and tail-feathers, are ultra- 

 marine blue ; the breast and wing-coverts, sea-green ; the 

 primary quills of the wings are nearly black, as are also the 

 bill and tail. 



In illustration of that division of the Bee-eaters, which is 

 characterized by a forked tail, we have also inserted a figure 

 drawn by Major Hamilton Smith, from a specimen which was 

 in Mr. Bullock's late Museum, and named by him Merops 

 ptielld. This bird is extremely delicate and pretty. The head 



