Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/64

Rh The generic characters of Merops are the following:—the beak is long, compressed, slightly bent, slender, but broad at the base; the upper part keeled or ridged; the tip entire, sharp, and not hooked. The wings are long, pointed; the second quill the longest. The tail is lengthened. The feet are short, with strong curved claws.

Like the Swallows, which, in appearance, they so much resemble, the Bee-eaters take their insect-prey on the wing; and as this consists largely of bees and wasps, it is remarkable that they are not stung. They burrow in the banks of rivers, digging their nestling holes to a considerable depth.

The European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster, .) is a common summer visitor to the countries that border the Mediterranean, and has in a few rare instances been observed in the British islands. A flock of about twenty was seen in Norfolk in the year 1794, out of which one was shot, and exhibited at a meeting of the Linnean Society. It is a beautiful bird; the upper plumage is of a rich orange-brown, passing into yellow; the throat is yellow, with a collar of black; the wings, tail, and under parts are glossy greenish blue, changing with the play of light.

The prey which the Bee-eater selects has been observed from early times; both the Greek and Roman writers on rural economy have noticed it among the animals whose depredations on the industrious tenants of the hive must be watched against. Its destruction has a double object;