17 
TAB. LX IX. 
M ERO PS apiaster. 
Common Bee-eater. 
Gen. Char. Bill curved, quadrangular, compressed, 
carinate, pointed. Nostrils small, at the base of 
the bill. Tongue slender, the tip generally jagged. 
Feet gressorial. — Turton. 
Spec. Char. Back ferruginous. Belly and tail 
blueish green. Two of the tail feathers long. 
Chin pale-yellow. 
Syn. Turton , v. 1 . 284. 
We could not overlook the beauty of the common Bee- 
eater, as it is now entered into the list of British Birds. 
On July 2d, 1794, Dr. Smith, President of the Linnean 
Society, communicated the account of one having been 
shot (for the first time in Great Britain) near Mattishall, 
in the county of Norfolk, by the Rev. G. Smith. The 
identical specimen was exhibited, and I had the pleasure of 
seeing it. A flight of about twenty more were seen in 
June, and the same flight, probably, (much diminished in 
numbers,) was observed' passing over the same spot in Oc- 
tober following. Having obtained specimens of both sexes, 
VOL. II. 
c 
