Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/65

52 for its flesh is sufficiently esteemed to be sold in the markets both of Italy and Egypt,



Belon, quoted by Ray, writes thus concerning the Merops. "Flying in the air it catches and preys upon bees, as Swallows do upon flies. It flies not singly, but in flocks; and, especially, by the side of those mountains where the true thyme grows. Its voice is heard afar off, almost like the whistling of a man. Its singular elegance invites the Candy (Candia) boys to hunt for it with CieadæCicadæ [sic], as they do also for those greater swallows