10 
impression is that the end of the abdomen containing the sting is bitten off by the 
bird before swallowing the remainder : my reason for thinking so is that when a 
bee was captured the bird would soar aloft, carrying the bee, often a large Bombus, 
at the point or near the point of the bill, the bird would then circle round with 
wings and tail extended, much in the same manner as may so often be observed 
with the kestrel, the bee would be carried there for a minute or more and then 
suddenly swallowed. Mr. Yarrel thinks this interval is used simply to crush the 
insect, and render it powerless to sting ; but it is well known that if the sting of 
the wasp or bee be detached altogether from the insect it is still liable to wound 
quite as painfully as before, that is supposing the poison bags be not separated 
from it. If, therefore, the bird does not get rid altogether of the sting in the 
way I suppose, the only conclusion we can arrive at is that there must be some 
peculiarity in the structure of this and several other birds that render them 
indifferent to the poisonous influences of the sting, as they evidently possess per- 
fect immunity of danger from this cause. 
The occasional appearances of the bee-eater in England is caused doubtless by 
birds being driven by adverse winds from their usual course during their annual 
migration. 
The home of the bee-eater, like the swallow and many other of our migratory 
birds, appears to be Africa, over which continent, it is probable they are pretty 
generally distributed, as specimens shot at v the Cape of Good Hope appear quite 
identical with European ones. They are extremely abundant in those countries 
of Africa that border upon the Mediterranean. In April the annual migration 
takes place, and the birds distribute themselves in small flocks all over Southern 
Europe, being most abundant in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkey, whilst 
stragglers find their way often to France, Germany, and Switzerland, and occa- 
sionally, as we find, to the British Isles. With regard to the nesting of the bird 
nothing is known as far as our country is concerned, the stay here being generally 
limited to a day or so. Latham says that in the neighbourhood of Gibraltar they 
make a nest b y excavating a hole in soft sandy banks, penetrates 3 feet horizon- 
tally, then turning at right angles three feet further, the end is made larger to 
admit of the bird's turning easily ; no nest is formed, but the eggs (which are 
pure white, and from five to seven in number), are laid on'the bare ground. They 
are said to breed in immense numbers in the high sand banks of the Wolga and 
other great rivers in Southern Russia. 
The flight of the bee-eater is, I think, more graceful and beautiful than any 
bird I have ever seen on the wing, the resplendency of its plumage, especially 
in the sunshine, adding greatly to the beauty of its appearance. It can turn in 
full flight with equal facility to any of the swallows. Lieutenant Blakiston, 
in his notes on the birds of the Crimea, says of this species, — " I had the 
long wished for satisfaction of riding to the Alma and back, on a hot day, at 
the end of May, and it chanced to be my last opportunity of observing several 
species of birds, among them was the bee-eater, and I only wish it was in my 
power to describe the graceful motions and beautiful appearance of the bird. I 
thought at the time that it was the nearest to perfection in flight and plumage 
combined, that I had ever seen. There were numbers about the rivers Belbec, 
