6 
BEAUTIFUL BIEDS. 
posed to the action of the sun have the most gay 
and glossy plumage, and it is probable that the me- 
tallic lustre and smooth surface of the plumage of 
tropical birds is a provision against the powerful heat 
and light, which is reflected as well as decomposed 
by that refraction which shows the colours. 
Bee-eaters are birds of warm, sunny climes, and of 
districts where sweet fruits are produced. They are 
not foimd in the New AVorld, but appear to be repre- 
sented in that continent by the genus JPrionites. 
One species, Merops apiaster, or European Bee- 
eater, has occasionally strayed into Britain. It is 
about eleven inches in length, the female being rather 
smaller than the male. The extent of the expanded 
wings is about seventeen or eighteen inches. The ~ 
colour on the upper part is of a maroon red, fading 
into yellowish rust-colour on the middle of the back ; 
the front of the head wEite, shaded with green ; the 
eye-streak large and of a black colour ; the qidlls and 
coverts olive-green ; the neck golden yellow, marked 
in the middle with a half colour of black, and all the 
rest of the under part clear aqua-marine, or sea-green. 
The bill black and the feet brown. 
In the south-east and eastern portions of Europe, 
these birds are not uncommon during the summer. 
On the approach of autumn, they collect together in 
large flocks, and depart for more southern latitudes. 
It is so abundant in all the islands of the Archi- 
pelago and the Levant, as to be one of the most 
common summer birds. The climate of these islands 
is very flue, and as, from their comparatively small 
size, no part of them is at any great distance from 
