84 
The present species breeds in colonies in holes in a hank or cliff usually overhanging a 
stream, hut sometimes away from water ; and five or eight pure white, glossy, roundish eggs are 
deposited on the soil in the chamber at the end of the hole. Mr. Osbert Salvin, who met with 
the Bee-eater breeding numerously in North Africa, writes (Ibis, 1S59, p. 303) as follows : — 
“ The first time I observed this species was towards the end of April, at Kef Laks, where a flock, 
apparently just arrived, passed over my head. It is plentiful about Djendeli, and breeds, boring 
the hole for its nest, in banks of the river Ohemora 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 were tenanted, and where and when to dig. A little circumspection is neces- 
sary at first ; for not unfrequent] y the occupant of the hole is not a Bee-eater, but 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 a strong probability that there are eggs within. The holes pierced by this 
bird usually consist of a horizontal passage about three or four feet long, the entrance being at 
various heights from the level ground. This passage, from a circular opening, is gradually 
enlarged horizontally till it arrives at a chamber about a foot in diameter, and domed over. 
In this chamber the eggs are frequently deposited. Should, however, none be found, it is 
necessary to feel all round the chamber ; and in many instances another passage of about a foot 
long will be found communicating with a second chamber in all respects similar to the first, in 
which, if it exists, the eggs are placed. The bird makes no nest ; but the floor of the chamber 
is strewn with the legs and wing-cases 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 enlarged it would, every now and then, attempt to escape. 
The eggs are laid early in June, and are usually six in number. The flight of the Bee-eater is 
somewhat like that of a Swallow ( Hirundo rustica), though its movements are much slower; and 
it is frequently to be seen perched on a bush. Its cry is harsh and monotonous.” 
Colonel Irby also ( l . c.) gives some interesting details respecting the nidification and habits 
of the present species as observed by him in Southern Spain, where it is very numerous. “ Com- 
mencing their labours of excavation,” he writes, “ almost immediately they arrive, the earliest 
eggs that I know of were taken on the 29th of April ; but usually they do not lay till about the 
second week in May, often not so soon. In some places they nest in large colonies ; in others 
there are perhaps two or three holes. When there are no river-banks or barrancos in which to 
bore holes, they tunnel down into the ground, where the soil is suitable, in a vertical direction, 
generally on some slightly elevated mound. 
“ The shafts to these nests are not usually so long as those in banks of rivers, which some- 
times reach to a distance of eight or nine feet in all ; the end is enlarged into a round sort of 
chamber, on the bare soil of which the usual four or five shining white eggs are placed ; after a 
little they become discoloured from the castings of the old birds, the nest being, as it were, lined 
with the wings and undigested parts of bees and wasps. Vast numbers of eggs and young must 
be annually destroyed by snakes and lizards : the latter are often seen sunning themselves at the 
entrance of a hole among a colony of Bee-eaters ; and frequently have I avenged the birds by 
treating the yellow reptile to a charge of shot. The bills of the Bee-eaters, after boring out 
their habitations, are sometimes worn away to less than half their usual length ; but as newly 
arrived birds never have these stumpy bills, it is evident that they grow again to their original 
