BEE-EATERS. 
55 
birds themselves, either in a retired bank of a river or in the sides of a road, 
and the tunnels varying in length from one foot to seven feet, with the chamber 
at the end larger than the rest of the excavation. The direction of the passage 
is not always straight, Davison stating that he has found some of them, after a 
depth of twelve or eighteen inches turning off almost at a right angle, while 
others took an almost circular direction. There is no nest in the chamber, and 
the eggs are laid on the bare floor of the chamber, which is about six inches 
in diameter. 
Of somewhat larger size than the last, the true bee-eaters 
(Merops) are represented by seventeen species, all distinguished by 
the central tail-feathers being elongated beyond the others. Of these, eight are 
peculiar to Africa, while two (M. pensions and M. viridis ) inhabit both Africa and 
India; Arabia owning two species, namely, M. cyanophrys from Aden, and 
M. muscatensis from Muscat. In Europe M, apiaster is common in summer, 
M. pkilippinns abounds from the Indian Peninsula to Southern China and even 
extends over the greater part of Malaysia, while M. ornatus is Australian. 
Two (M. bicolor and M. sumatranus) are confined to the Indian region, and 
one of the handsomest species is M. breveri from the Gabun and the Congo 
in West Africa. The common bee-eater (M. apiaster) is a rather large species, 
measuring 10 inches in length, with the wings 5’9, and the tail 4'5 inches. The 
head and mantle are chestnut, the back and scapulars creamy buff, the lower back 
washed with blue like the upper tail-coverts; the lesser wing-coverts are green, 
but the rest are chestnut like the secondaries, which are tipped with black; the 
quills are blue with blackish tips; the tail green with blue edges, the central 
feathers almost entirely blue; the cheeks are blue in front, white behind, the 
crown chestnut, with a white band on the forehead, followed by a blue line 
joining a narrow blue eyebrow ; the throat is yellow, with a black band across the 
lower part; the rest of the under surface greenish blue; the bill black; the feet 
greyish brown; and the iris yellow. The sexes are alike in colour, but the young 
are paler, having a green eyebrow, with the black bar on the lower throat, and 
show a general wash of green over the head, mantle, and back. This bee-eater 
visits Southern Europe regularly every summer, and is found as far east as 
Turkestan, Kashmir, and Sind; breeding in Afghanistan and plentifully in Kashmir. 
Its habits are like those of other bee-eaters, the bird taking its food on the wing, and 
being very destructive to bees in certain parts of Southern Europe, visiting the hives 
and capturing the insects as they fly out and in. In winter it visits all parts of 
Africa, and is even said to rear a second brood in its winter home. Several species 
of European birds are, indeed, reported to nest in the southern countries where they 
winter, but although these records must be received with caution, in the case of the 
common bee-eater the evidence is certainly remarkable, for Mr. Layard says that not 
only did he receive information of the breeding of the species, but he himself found 
it nesting in large numbers on the Berg River in September and October. He 
observes that “ it does not always select a bank into which to bore the hole 
destined for its nest, for we found one flat piece of sandy ground perforated with 
numberless holes, into which the birds were diving and scrambling like so many 
rats.” 
