Class II. BEE EATER. 339 



GENUS XII. BEE EATER. 



Bill quadrangular, a little incurvated, sharp- 

 pointed. 



Nostrils small, placed near the base. 



Tongue slender. 



Toes, three forward, one backward : the three 

 lower joints of the middle toe closely 

 joined to those of the outmost. 



Merops apiaster. M. dorso fer- The Bee eater. JVil. orn. 147. Common-. 



rugineo abdomine caudaque Rail Syn. av. 49. 



viridi-cserulescente, rectrici^ Liri. Tr> iii. 333. 



bus duobus longioribus, gu- Le Guepier. Brisson av. iv. 



la lutea. Lath. Ind. orn. 532. Hist, d'ois. vi. 480. 



269. id. Syn. ii. 667. id. PL Enl. Q38. 

 Sup. }\g. Gm. Lin. 460. 



[THIS beautiful bird was first observed to 

 visit England in 1794, when a flock of about 

 twenty passed most part of the summer in 

 Norfolk : other specimens have since that time 

 been killed in Suffolk. 



It measures from bill to tail ten inches. The Dbscrip- 

 bill is black, an inch and three quarters in 

 length ; the irides red ; the forehead of a blu- 

 ish-green color, with green ; above the top of 



z 2 



TIOKT. 



