76 cassell's book of birds. 



the common bee-eater. 



The Common Bee-e.\ter {Merops apiasfcr) (Coloured Plate XXIV.), one of the largest members 

 of this family, is ten inches long and seventeen broad ; the wing measures five inches and one-third, 

 and the tail from four inches to four and a quarter. In this species the brow is white, and top of the 

 head green ; the nape, sides of the neck, and centre of the wings are chestnut-brown ; the back is 

 yellow, with a greenish gloss ; the cheek-stripes, which terminate at the back of the neck, and a line 

 around the pale yellow throat are black ; the under side and rump are blue or blueish green ; the 

 quills grass-green, blue on their outer web, and tipped with black ; the tail-feathers are blueish green, 

 shaded with yellow, the long centre pair are also tipped with black ; the eye is bright red, the beak 

 black, and the foot of a reddish hue. 



The Merops apiaster is an occasional visitor to this country, and somewhat resembles the 

 Swallows in its habits. Like them, it captures prey on the wing. It devours bees and wasps in large 

 quantities, and that without experiencing the least inconvenience from their sting, which it probably 

 gets rid of by frequently pressing the body between its mandibles, until the sting is either extracted 

 or rendered harmless. In the island of Crete these birds are caught by boys, by means of a cicada 

 attached to a pin or fish-hook fastened to a long thread. In many parts of Europe the flesh is 

 esteemed as an article of food. The voice of this species is rich and pleasing. 



" I have had the gratification," says Mr. Thompson, " of seeing the Bee-eater in scenes with 

 which its brilliant plumage was more in harmony than with any in the British Isles. It first excited 

 my admiration when visiting the celebrated grotto of Egeria, near Rome. On approaching the 

 classic spot, several of these birds, in rapid Swift-like flight, swept closely past, uttering their peculiar 

 call, and, with their brilliant colours and graceful form, proved irresistibly attractive. My companions, 

 who, as well as myself, beheld them for the first time, were so greatly struck with the beauty of their 

 plumage, and their bold, sweeping flight, as to term them the presiding deities of the Egerian grotto. 

 Rich as was the spot in historical and poetical associations, it was not less so in pictorial charms. 

 All was in admirable keeping ; the picturesque grotto, with its ivy-mantled entrance and gushing 

 spring ; the gracefully-reclining, though headless, white marble statue of the nymph ; the sides of the 

 grotto covered with the exquisitely-beautiful maiden-hair fern in the richest luxuriance ; the wilderness 

 of wld flowers around the exterior attracting the bees on which tlie Meropses were feeding ; and 

 over all the deep blue sky of Rome completing the picture." 



The sting-bearing hymenoptera undoubtedly constitute the favourite food of these resplendent 

 birds, and to obtain them, not only are the hives of the honey-bee put under requisition, but the 

 nests of wasps, hornets, and humble-bees are ruthlessly robbed of their inhabitants ; indeed, it has 

 been frequently observed that when the Bee-eaters have been fortunate enough to find a wasp's nest, 

 they establish their head-quarters in its immediate neighbourhood, and, during a few hours' sojourn, 

 generally contrive to snap up its numerous occupants one after another until none are left. Nor do 

 these insects alone sufler from their voracity ; grasshoppers, crickets, dragon-flies, gadflies, beetles, 

 flies, and even gnats are by no means unacceptable prey, in spite of the dense, indigestible armour in 

 which some of them are encased. 



The nest of the Bee-eater is constructed towards the end of May, the locality selected being 

 generally the sandy or clayey bank of some river, in which it excavates a round hole, from two 

 inches to two inches and a half in diameter, apparently by means of its beak and claws, or perhaps 

 wth its claws only ; from this external opening the hole extends into the bank in a slightly- 

 inclined direction to a distance of from four to six feet, and terminates in a capacious chamber 

 eight or ten inches long, by four to six Inches broad, and three or four inches in height. It is 



