56 
allen’s naturalist’s library. 
generally flying high in the air, almost out of sight, seldom stop- 
ping or descending near the ground. They cross the Straits for 
the most part early in the day, flight following flight for hours in 
succession, always exactly in the same direction, due north. 
The latest date on which Colonel Irby noticed a flight going 
north was the 7th of May. The return migration takes place 
early in the year, about the end of July and the early part of 
August, the 29th of August being the latest day on which a 
Bee-Eater was seen by the above-named observer. 
The Bee-Eater commences to nest directly after its arrival, 
and the eggs arc laid about the second week in May, some 
time being occupied in excavating the tunnels, at the end of 
which the nesting-chamber is excavated. Some of these are of 
great length, extending for some eight or nine feet in the banks 
of rivers, and Colonel Irby states that the bills of the birds be- 
come much worn away by the process of boring, but grow 
again to their normal length in course of time. The holes are 
sometimes drilled into the ground “ in a slightly vertical direc- 
tion, or into an elevated mound,” when no suitable river-banks 
are available for their work. Generally the birds nest in large 
colonies, but occasionally only a few holes are found together, 
and Colonel Irby says that vast quantities of eggs and young 
birds must annually be devoured by Snakes and Lizards. The 
habits of the Bee-Eater also render it an object of detestation 
to the peasantry, as the birds swoop down in the vicinity of 
the hives and carry off numbers of the bees, so that, as Mr. 
Howard Saunders records, “sacks-full of birds are taken in 
Spain by spreading a net over the face of an occupied bank, 
and pouring water into a parallel trench cut at some distance 
back.” It is as well, therefore, that the Bee-Eater does rear a 
second brood faraway in South Africa, for it has many enemies 
in its northern home, and none greater than its own beautiful 
plumage, which causes it to be frequently in demand as an 
ornament (!) for ladies’ hats. “During my stay at Gibraltar,” 
writes Colonel Irby, “ Bee-Eaters decreased very much in the 
neighbourhood, being continually shot on account of their 
bright plumage to put in ladies’ hats. Owing to this vile 
fashion, we saw no less than seven hundred skins, all shot in 
Tangier in the spring, which were consigned to some dealer in 
London.” 
