
In Portugal the Bee-eater is very common throughout the summer; and in Spain it is
exceedingly numerous. I met with it commonly in Catalonia in May ; and Colonel Irby writes
(Orn. Str. Gibr. p. 65) as follows :—" This bird did not appear to me to be quite so common in
Morocco at the end of April as on the Spanish side of the Straits, where during April, May,
.lime, and J u ly it is one of the most conspicuous birds in the country ; at that season Andalucia
without Bee-eaters would he like London without Sparrows. Everywhere they arc to be seen;
aud their single note, teerrp, heard continually repeated, magnifies their numbers in imagination.
Occasionally they venture into the centre of towns when on passage, hovering round the orangetrees
and flowers in some patio or garden. Crossing the Straits for the most part in the early
part of the day, flight follows flight for hours in succession. When crossing at Gibraltar they
sometimes skim low down to settle for a moment on a bush or a tree, but generally go straight
on, often almost out of sight; but their cry always betrays their presence in the air. My dates
of the first arrivals noticed are the 7th of April 1S68, # 1 1 of April 1869, 1st April 1870, 29th
of March 1871, 26th March 1S72, 28th of March 1874 They were observed passing in great
numbers from the 10th to the 11th of April in three consecutive years, the greatest quantity
arriving on the 10th ; so, in Spanish fashion, I christened that date ' St. Bee-eater's day.' The
latest flight I ever saw going north was on the 7th of May. Having remained at Gibraltar once
only during July and August, I had hut that opportunity of watching the return migration,
which appeared during the last week in July and also on the 10th aud 12th of August, the last
being noticed on the 29th of that month, all, with few cxce|>tiims, being heard passing at night.
The first arrivals, as is the case with all migrants, are those which remain to breed in the
immediate neighbourhood."
This species is recorded by Von Hoineyer from the Balearic Islands; and it is tolerably
common all along the coasts of the Mediterranean, but rarer further inland. In Savoy it is only
of rare and irregular appearance, being principally met with along the valleys of the lthfine and
the Isere; but in Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia it breeds in many parts, arriving late in April or
early in May.
Mr. A. B. Brooke says (Ibis, 1873, p. 230) that in Sardinia, " from about the 17th of April,
k r g e flocks began to appear, flying very high in a northerly direction. The first arrivals seemed
all to pass on further north; and it was quite a week later before they began to settle in the
south of the island. On their migration they keep up their soft musical note, which can be
heard a long distance off. Large numbers breed in the island."
Mr. C. A. Wright states {Ibis, 1801, p. 73), in Malta " i t arrives in April and May in large
flocks; and its peculiar gurgling note may be heard at a long distance. Towards evening they
settle to roost on the carob-trees, and nestle so close to one another that I have known as many
as twenty or thirty to be brought down at one shot. Three were seen in 1861 as late as the 7th
June. In Gozo they have been observed to lay their eggs in the sand. They reappear in autumn."
In Southern Germany it occurs, as a rule, only as a somewhat rare visitant. Dr. Fritsch speaks
of it as being an uncommon bird in Bohemia ; but it is said to have bred there, for Voboril writes
that it nested in a vineyard near one of the cemeteries of Prague, and according to Fierlinger it
bred on the Pardubic estate some years ago. Specimens have, according to Lokaj, been obtained
at Bumburg, according to Palliardi near Prague in 1842, and according to Hromadko in 1847 at
the foot of the Kuneticer mountain and near the Forest-house in Baab. Gloger states also that
a pair nested near Ohlau in Silesia; according to Von Homeyer (Naumannia, 1851, p. 65) a nest
was found in June 1834 in Wiirtemberg; and Jaekel states (Naumannia, 1856, p. 152) that one
was found some years previously near Wurzhurg in Bavaria. The late Mr. E. Seidensaeher
informed me that a specimen of this Bee-eater was obtained near Rcicbenegg on the 21st May
1864, but that near Marburg it more frequently occurs and has even been leen in small flocks'.
In Transylvania it is, Messrs. Danford and llarvic Brown state (Ibis, 1876, p. 300), « Local, hut,
where occurring, found in considerable numbers. Uerr Klir saw many during former visits at
BogAt, on the Maros, where they were breeding in the river-banks. They seem, however, to be
of a wandering disposition; for, although we looked for them at this breeding-place on two
occasions, wo did not sec a single bird, but were always told that they had been there a day or
two before. The old nesting-holes which wo examined in the low earth-banks of the river were
in some instances completely fined with elytra of beetles. Herr Csiito says that in 1850 a great
flock appeared at Nagy-oklos, in the Stroll valley; and by Bieltz and others Kleinsche'lken,
Birthalen, Nagy-Enycd, Sziisvaros, &c. are given as localities."
It is common during the breeding-season along the Danube, and breeds in colonics in the
banks on many of the southern portions of that river. In Southern Russia and Turkey it is
exceedingly numerous during the summer; and according to Messrs. Elwes and Buckley (Ibis,
1870, p. 189) it is common in Turkey, arriving about the same time as the Roller, with which it
associates. Colonies of Bee-caters breed in the earthy cliffs of the Danube, making their holes in
the bank like Sand-Martins. Dr. Kriiper says that it is a common bird throughout Greece,
Macedonia, aud Asia Minor, where it arrives early in April, and commences breeding Lite in May
or early in June. lie took fresh eggs on the 20th May and the 10th of June in Acarnania, and
the 23rd May in Ionia, and incubated eggs on the 8th June on the Isthmus. Eight eggs is the
number usually deposited. As soon as the young birds are full-grown they arc found in August
in flocks on the plains, and leave altogether in September.
Lord Lilford writes (Ibis, 1800, p. 235), "the Bee-cater arrives in Corfu and Epirus in
great numbers in April, and breeds in the latter country on the banks of the Kataito river, near
Mursyah, and many other similar localities. In all the holes that wc examined, the eggs were
laid on the bare sand, without any attempt at a nest. I several times observed three, and once
or twice four birds fly from the same hole. These birds leave the country as soon as the young
arc able to fly. I have never seen them later than the beginning of August. I observed also, in
August 1858, on the banks of the Guadalquivir, near San Juan dc Alfarache, where there is a
large colony of this species, that, although the hanks were mined in every direction, and exhibited
signs of recent occupation, not a Bee-cater was to lie seen."
In Asia Minor it is, as in Greece, very common in all suitable localities; and in Palestine,
Canon Tristram writes (Ibis, 1806, p. 83), " though for moro numerous in individuals than the
Roller, it is less universally distributed, living, however, in large societies in every part of the
country. Unlike its smaller congener, Mcropa tiridis, it does not frequently perch, but remains
for hours on the wing, skimming, Swallow-like, up and down a nullah or wady, or systematically
ranging and quartering a barley-plain in pursuit of insects on the wing. Seen athwart the sunbeams
as they pass overhead, their colour has the appearance of burnished copper. They feed as
well as breed in colonies, preferring low banks to the steeper declivities, and seeming to rely for
protection against lizards and other enemies on the structure and turnings of their dwellings
rather than on their position. I have taken eggs from a nest in the side of a mere sand-mound on
the plain, out of which I started the bird by riding over its hole."
In Africa this Bee-eater is widely distributed, being found from the shores of the Mediterranean
to the Cape Colony. Von Hcuglin says (Orn. N.O.-Afr. i. p. 197) that it is common