BEE-EATERS AND SWALLOWS. 7 
water, they abound with insects, which afford sub- 
sistence to all the species of insectivorous birds, espe- 
cially those which prey on the wing. 
In these islands, the species under consideration 
is as plentiful and as familiar in its habits as Swal- 
lows are with us, only it builds, or rather burrows, 
in banks remote from human habitations. But, in 
search of its food, it flies in the close vicinity of 
houses ; and in Crete especially, the boys are said 
to angle for it in rather a curious manner. They 
catch locusts, or any of the larger winged insects 
which have considerable power of flight, fasten the 
insect to a crooked pin or small fishhook at the 
end of a line, and letting the insect fly from the 
window, retain the line in their hand. The insect 
mounts up and endeavours to escape, notwithstanding 
the weight which it has to drag after it ; and the Bee- 
eater perceiving it in the air, snaps at it, is caught by 
the hook, and dragged home. This is perhaps one of 
the most singular modes of bird-catching, and yet 
anglers in this country sometimes catch Swallows in- 
voluntarily, in a manner nearly similar, by means of 
their artificial flies ; and the writer has sometimes 
been astonished, in casting his fly, at throwing a Swal- 
low on the water, instead of raising a trout.* 
The flight of the Bee-eater much resembles that of 
the Swallow, though it is more direct, and less rapid. 
The nest is formed in the sandy bank of some river, 
or sometimes in mountain ridges where the soil is 
loose. The depth of the excavation, according to 
Latliam, is six feet. The eggs, which vary in num- 
* Britiah Cyclopaedia. 
