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saw one immense flock on the Wullur lake in the month of August, evidently about to migrate. 

 According to Pallas it is found in Asiatic Russia only as far east as the Irtish river. 



The Bee-eater is certainly one of the most brilliantly coloured and conspicuous of our 

 European birds ; and in the rich sunshine of the south there are few more beautiful sights than 

 a flock of these birds hawking after insects. I first saw it alive in Southern Spain, but was too 

 early to find it breeding, and have never been able to take its eggs. Those I saw had just 

 arrived, and were hawking about in pursuit of insects, sometimes resting on the telegraph-wires 

 which passed close to where they were. In their mode of flight they reminded me a good deal 

 of the Swallow, and were catching insects on the wing like that bird. They feed on insects of 

 various kinds, such as bees, wasps, grasshoppers, locusts, and beetles of various kinds, which are 

 chiefly captured on the wing, but are also picked off trees, bushes, or plants. To the beekeeper 

 it is an intolerable nuisance ; for one or two of these birds will sometimes watch the entrance to 

 a hive, and almost decimate the bees as they pass and repass. 



The present species breeds in colonies in holes in a bank or cliff usually overhanging a 

 stream, but sometimes away from water ; and five or eight pure white, glossy, roundish eggs are 

 deposited on the soil in the chamber at the end of the hole. Mr. Osbert Salvin, who met with 

 the Bee-eater breeding numerously in North Africa, writes (Ibis, 1859, p. 303) as follows: — 

 " The first time I observed this species was towards the end of April, at Kef Laks, where a flock, 

 apparently just arrived, passed over my head. It is plentiful about Djendeli, and breeds, boring 

 the hole for its nest, in banks of the river Chemora and the ditches that drain the lowland near 

 the lake. There the soil is alluvial and soft, and the bird finds little difficulty in making its 

 excavation. During our stay I took several nests, and latterly became an adept at knowing at 

 once which holes were tenanted, and when and where to dig. A little circumspection is neces- 

 sary at first ; for not unfrequently the occupant of the hole is not a Bee-eater, but a toad or 

 snake. The scratchings made by the bird's feet in passing in and out, and the absence of fresh 

 earth beneath the orifice are generally sure indications of the excavation having been completed, 

 and consequently of a strong probability that there are eggs within. The holes pierced by this 

 bird usually consist of a horizontal passage about three or four feet long, the entrance being at 

 various heights from the level ground. This passage, from a circular opening, is gradually 

 enlarged horizontally till it arrives at a chamber about a foot in diameter, and domed over. 

 In this chamber the eggs are frequently deposited. Should, however, none be found, it is 

 necessary to feel all round the chamber ; and in many instances another passage of about a foot 

 long will be found communicating with a second chamber in all respects similar to the first, in 

 which, if it exists, the eggs are placed.' The bird makes no nest; but the floor of the chamber 

 is strewn with the legs and wing-cases of Coleoptera in such abundance that a handful may be 

 taken up at once. In most instances I caught one of the old birds in the chamber containing 

 the eggs ; while the hole was being enlarged it would, every now and then, attempt to escape. 

 The eggs are laid early in June, and are usually six in number. The flight of the Bee-eater is 

 somewhat like that of a Swallow (Hirundo rustica), though its movements are much slower ; and 

 it is frequently to be seen perched on a bush. Its cry is harsh and monotonous." 



Mr. Andersson, writing on the habits of this bird as observed by him in Africa, says (B. of 

 Damara Land, p. 60), " these Bee-eaters are observed during their annual migrations in small 



