legs to kick it out of the tunnel. In this manner, they dig a more or less 
horizontal burrow, usually several feet long, with an unlined nesting chamber 
at the end. 
Courtship among European bee eaters is straightforward. After assuming a 
precopulatory upright stance, they may perform ritualized gestures. One bird 
may bow its head several times, as if it were rapping an insect against the 
perch, its bill almost striking the perch near the feet of the other bird. 
Copulation (above) is also often preceded by courtship feeding. 
Both male and female incubate the eggs and care for the young. They never 
clean the nest, so the chamber eventually is cluttered with regurgitated pellets 
of indigestible matter, primarily sclerites, and the walls become coated with 
dried feces. 
Toward the end of the breeding season, the accumulation of filth in the 
burrows and, in dense colonies, the congestion of the population result in 
ectoparasitic infestations. Bee eaters engage in a variety of sun- and dust- 
bathing postures, partly to relieve their lousiness. One sunning position, 
common to all bee eaters, involves perching with the mantle feathers fluffed 
up (right) to expose the skin to the sun’s rays. 
Rebecca B. Finnell 
38 
