Occasional 
visitant. 
Foreign 
locality. 
Nest, &c. 
Food. 
General 
descrip- 
tion. 
124 ALCYONES. MEROPS. Bee-Earer. 
Merops Galilzeus, Hassel. It. 247. 
Le Guepier, Buff: Ois. v. 6. p. 480. t. 23.—Id. Pl. Enl. 938.—Le Vaill. Ois. 
_ de Parad, et Promer, v. 3. Pl. 1. and 2. 
Le Guepier vulgaire, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. v. 1. p. 420. 
Bienfresser, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. v. 2. p. 1099.—Meyer, Tasschenb. Deut. 
v. l. p. 132.—Jd. Voég. Deut. v. 1. t. Heft. 10. male and female.—Frisch, 
Vag. t. 221. the female, t. 222. male. 
Yellow-throated Bee-Eater, Lath. Syn. v. 2. p. 678. 
Common Bee.Eater, Will. (Ang.) p. 147.—Albin, 2. t. 44.—-Linn. Trans. 
3. p. 333.—Lath. Syn. 2. p. 667.—Id. Sup. p. 119.—Mont. Ornith. Dict. 
—Id. Sup.—Shaw’s Zool. 8. p. 152. 
Of late years, several individuals of this species have been 
killed in England ; which facts authorise me to include it in 
the list of the British Birds, as an occasional visitant.—It is 
met with, durmg the summer months, in various parts of the 
European Continent, viz. in the southern districts of France 
and Germany, in Spain, Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia. It is 
very numerous along the southern borders of Russia, parti- 
cularly upon the Don and the Wolga, in the banks of which 
rivers it breeds, digging long horizontal holes for that pur- 
pose.—The nest is composed of moss, and other soft mate- 
rials; and the eggs, of a pure white, are from five to seven 
in number. Upon the approach of autumn, these birds as- 
semble in large flocks, and depart for more southern lati- 
tudes. 
The food of the Bee-eater consists of that tribe of insects 
from whence its name has been bestowed, as well as other 
winged insects, all of which it captures during its flight, like 
the Swallow. On the wing its motion is rapid, and its con- 
tour and appearance are light and elegant. According to 
TrEmmMiInck, the specimens from the Cape of Good Hope are 
precisely similar to the individuals killed in Europe. 
Piate 41. Represents a male and female bird of this spe- 
cies, in the natural size. 
Bill black, forehead white, passing into pale verdigris- 
green. Crown of the head, nape of the neck, and up- 
per part of the back, deep orange coloured brown. 
Lower part of the back, and upper tail-coverts, saffron- 
yellow, passing into gallstone-yellow. Lesser wing-co- 
