THE LONG-TAILED BEE-EATERS. 
55 
blue in front, white behind; throat bright yellow, with a black 
band across the lower throat; under surface of body green- 
ish-blue ; the under wing-coverts and axillaries ochreous-buff, 
washed with green along the edge of the wing ; quills dusky 
below, ochreous buff along the inner web ; bill black ; feet 
greyish-brown; iris lemon-yellow or red. Total length, lo 
inches; culmen, 1-65 ; wing, 5-7 ; tail, 4-5 ; tarsus, o'ss. 
Adult Female. — -Like the male, but often washed with green on 
the head and back. Total length, 9'5 inches ; wing, 5-9. 
Young. — Much paler in colour than the adults, and having 
the under surface of the body much greener, and wanting the 
black bar across the lower throat ; the eyebrow green ; the 
upper-parts coloured as in the adults, but much greener, and 
having a w'ash of pale green over the whole, including the 
light parts of the back and scapulars. 
Eange in Great Britain. — A rare visitor to the south of Eng- 
land, generally occurring in spring. Mr. Howard Saunders 
states that over thirty instances have been recorded “ south of 
Derbyshire in England and Pembrokeshire in Wales.” In 
Scotland and the south of Ireland the Bee-Eater has also been 
noticed on a few occasions, but the bulk of the captures have 
taken place in England. 
Range outside the British Islands. — The Common Bee-Eatcr 
visits the whole of Southern Europe in spring, and extends 
eastwards to Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Cashmere. It 
breeds throughout the wdiole of this range, and w'inters to the 
southward, visiting Sind, and the extreme north-western dis- 
tricts of the Peninsula of India, as well as the countries of the 
Persian Gulf. It extends its migrations throughout the whole 
of Africa, and even reaches the Cape Colony, w'here it is said 
to breed a second time. 
Hahits. — This is one of the most brightly coloured birds 
of Europe, and its brilliant plumage renders it so conspicu- 
ous that there is little chance of its escaping observation on 
the rare occasions when it visits this country. In Spain it 
arrives during tlie last days of March and early in April, and 
Colonel Irby states that, near Gibraltar, Bee-Eaters pass in 
great numbers from the loth to the 14th of the latter month, 
