and in old nests one might generally fill a quart pot with the elytra of the Coleoptera on which the 
young have been reared. It is called ‘ warwar ’ by the natives, from its cry, and is mentioned by Russell 
as being considered delicate eating by the Syrians.” 
Mr. Stafford S. Allen, speaking of the bird as observed by him in Egypt, states that it arrives in the 
lower part of that country “ early in April, on its way from its winter-quarters in the equatorial regions of 
Africa, across the Mediterranean and Asia Minor to Eastern Europe and the shores of the Black Sea, for 
the purpose of breeding. It mostly flies in flocks of twenty or thirty, hut sometimes in much greater 
numbers. Mobile on their way in the daytime they keep at a considerable height, and sail about like Swallows, 
though not so rapidly, descending at night to roost on trees. They utter a sharp twittering cry, which is 
often distinctly audible when the birds are almost out of sight.” 
Lieut. R. M. Sperling says, “this graceful bird is common on the shores of the Mediterranean, and is 
certaiidy one of the most beautiful members of their avifauna. In the hottest days their bubbling bell-like 
notes sound from far off as they float towards you, glittering like green flakes when the sun strikes the varied 
tints of their plumage They are generally seen in flocks of about ten or twelve; and I noticed that after 
they have been in one place about half an hour, they move off and ‘beat’ in another locality. They leave 
Africa for Europe about the 1 0th of April.” 
In his five months’ hirds’-nestiug in the Eastern Atlas, Mr. Salvin states that “the Bee-eater is plentiful about 
Djendeli, and breeds, boring the hole for its nest, in banks of the river Chemora and the ditches that drain 
the low land near the lake. There the soil is alluvial and soft, and the bird finds little difficulty in making 
its excavation. During our stay, I took several nests, and latterly became an adept at knowing at once which 
holes Avere tenanted, and where and when to dig. A little circumspection is necessary at first; for 
not unfrequently the occupant is a toad or snake. The scratchings made by the bird’s feet in passing 
in and out, and the absence of fresh earth beneath the orifice, are generally sure indications of the 
excavation having been completed, and consequently of the probability of there being eggs within. The 
holes usually consist of a horizontal passage about three or four feet in length, with the entrance at 
various heights from the lec'e! ground. This passage, at first a circular opening, gradually enlarges 
horizontally, and ends in a domed chamber of about a foot in diameter ; here the eggs are frequently 
deposited. Should, however, none be found, it becomes necessary to feel all round the chamber, when in 
many instances another passage of about afoot in length will he found communicating with a second chamber 
in all resj)ects similar to the first, in this, if it exists, the eggs are placed. The bird makes no nest ; hut 
the floor of the chamber is strewn with the legs and wings of Coleoptera in such abundance that a handful 
may be taken up at once. In most instances I caught one of the old birds in the chamber containing the 
eggs; while the hole was being eidarged, it every now and then attempted to escape. The eggs are laid 
early in June, and are usually six in number.” 
“At Jaffa Mr. Chambers fell in with large flocks of Merops aplaster flying during the Avhole day at a 
great elevation, and only coming dowm late in the evening to roost in the orange-groves.” Lord Lilford 
states that “ the Bee-eater arrives in Corfu and Ej)irus in great numbers during the month of April, and 
breeds in the latter country on the banks of the Kataito River, near Mursyah, and many other similar localities. 
In all the holes examined, the eggs were laid on the bare sand, without any attempt at a nest. I scA^eral 
times observed three, and once or twice four birds fly from the same hole. The parents leave the country 
as soon as the young are able to fly. I have never seen them later than the beginning of August, and I 
observed also, during the same month in 1858, that although the baidvs of Guadalquivir, near San Juan de 
Alfarache, where there was a large colony of this s|)ecies, were mined in every direction, and exhibited signs 
of recent occupation, not a Bee-eater was to be seen.” 
Dr. Henry Giglioli, in his paper on the birds observed at Pisa and in its neighbourhood in 1864, says, 
“During the first days of May large flocks of the Common Bee-eater (J/crcyw passed over the 
place, flying northwards. They continually betray their presence by tbeir loud rolling whistle, but rcirely stop 
near here, unless in the olive-plantations at the foot of the Monte Pisano.” 
Little more need he said except that the sexes are very similar in colour, the female being merely a trifle 
less brilliant than the male, and that the young assume a plumage like that of the adult from the 
time they leave the nest; but two years elapse before the central tail-feathers become as long as those 
of their parents. 
The Plate represents an adult male, of the size of life, and a young bird in the distance. 
