INSESSORES.
FISSÏROSTRES.
MEROPIDÆ.
T H E BEEFEATER,
Merops apiaster, The Bee-'eater, PESN. BrikZool. v o l.is^ 3 3 9 r
- ” ” -Csmmori ,, Mont. Ornith.TDict. - ^
, , . Æ 5».V ' „ BEw^-Brit. Bir<S,. vol.'u p. 150.' '
FlemI ËîàÿAn. p. 90r
- A ÿ » -■ - Selbv/ Brit:,Ornith. imT, i. -p. 11“4 .
” »» ' Jenyns, Brit. Vert. ,p. -lô flp f
” ^ » Goüld, Birds of'Europe, pt. ii.
„ Guepier vulgaire, Temm. Man.SrOrnith. vol. i. p. 420.'
JSJttl/Jr S# m m m . \Vjtm eri_c unaramçtemrs. — J°ng, Slender, slightly Curved
H ^.e cujnien elevated, -the edges of the, mandibles cutting, entire
W P“ «y H by hairs directed Lvard,.'
Feet w ih the ttrsi short, toes small, three in front; hpiF bihind, the outer toe
connected to. the middle toe a. far as the second, joint; IheTnner toe'connected S H "’*«• *- B * » second quill-feather
No specimen .of the Commonr Bee-ester of Africa appears
to be recorded to bare been killed in England till the
sümmeiyóf 1794, when- a communication was made to 'th e
and a specimen of this beautiful bird was
exhibited'by 4 fe -president, Sir Jamp^Edward Smith, which
had been sbot^Cutvof' ^Wêkf óf.aböiït twenty near'Mattishaill,
in Norfolk* in :thé ’mbnth of J u n ^ fb y the Rev, George
'Smith, and a portion probably of ^Jft's safne'flight, much d iminished'
in numbers^'was "observed passing over the same
-spot in-:the'month of October following. ' Since that time
JèlféM^^ydibeenf'SlSït^ in'different parts of this country,
'which will be h-|;i|bhd’,whenifet"ating the geographical range of
the^ipc$i$sN§'
.l^TEsiS'-bipd, like thé Rö-llelf la st1 described, is a native; of
A foica, ;ahdL according txfeLe-ALiliant and Dr. Andrew Smith,
as Tar^Ümth as the'tkffe^ It is 'found also at
Madè i r a , f from North-Africa passes over the Mediterranean,
and S^fofrnd1 periodicatly.in Considerable numbers at
Gibralt&r,- Sardinia, Malta,1 arid Sicily. ■ -"^fThese birds,”
Shy^Mr^SVaiifitpLf who lived’ four or five years in Sicily
a n |^ S ’ v r cm it^ cs occasionally visit Italy flocks of twenty
Or thirty,»and may-fe^seeh'--skimming over thé vineyards and
■olifè.plantations With a flight' much resembling the Swallow,
élOügh more direct and less rapid. From the northern
shores of-the Mediterranean these flocks pass on to the Continent
before them. ..Colonel Montagu says, •“ I t probably
breeds' in some parts of Spain and Portugal, as he was assured
by an officer that it was not uncommon about Badajos, where
he observed a considerable number flying about like Swallows,
but that they frequently pitched, and assembled together in
tre<?s in the .gardens. This was in the spring of the yea*
;1811, while the allied army was encamped before Badajos ”
In Spain these birds are also observed about the rocky
country of Aragon. Polydore Roux includes them among
:the Birds of Provence, and a few every year frequent the
southern parts of Switzerland, France, and Germany. The