BEE-EATER, the vernacular name for a species of bird belonging to the genus Oferops, Linn., olio of the family Meropithe, and of the Syndactylous Tribe, which have the external toe nearly as long as the middle one, and both joined together up to the penultimate The birds of this genus take their prey, consisting of wasps, bees, d:c., like the swallows, while on the wing; and, as envier observes, it is remarkable that they are not stung by thorn. The species are numerous, and many are figured by Levaillant. Their nests are formed in the banks of rivers, where they dig deep holes ; and their geographical distribution is over the warmer regions of the old continent, Java, &c., and Australia (Paramatta), none of the genus having been found in America, where their place appears to be supplied by the Motmots (Prionitea, 111*er). Their brilliant plumes, of colours which change according to exposure to light, the prevalent hues being azures and greens, remind the observer of the kingfisher's gorgeous dress. A familiar example of the genus occurs in the bird whose English name is at the head of this article—the Guepier vulgaire of the French, the Mangia-Api and Lupo d'Api of the Italians, the Mipcak of the Greeks, and Merops Apiaster of Linmeus.
In the south of Europe it is frequent in the summer. Sicily, Sardinia, Italy, the south of France, and Germany possess it, and on the southern border of Russia it is numerous. It is found in Turkey and in the Grecian Islands, and in autumn migrates towards Egypt. It breeds in holes in the banks of the Don and the Volga, laying from five to seven white eggs in a neat composed of moss, &c. Hasselquist says that it is found in the plains of Galilee, and that it is called Varuar by the Arabs ; and Temminek, that the individuals found at the Cape of Good Hope differ in nothing from those killed in Europe. Ray, in his edition of Willughby, observes, " It is not unfrequent in the Campagn of Rome : for that we saw it there- to be sold in the market more than once. It is not found in England that we know of. Bellonius writes that it is so common in Candy that it is seen everywhere in that island. Aristotle tells us that it feeds upon bees, whom all other writers of the history of animals do therein follow. But it feeds not only upon bees, but also upon Cicada',' beetles, and other insects. Yea, as Bellonius relates, upon the seeds of the nipplewort, bastard parsley, turnip, &c., not abstaining
from wheat and other grain. From its exact agreement in the shape and make of its body, bill, and feet with the kingfisher, we suspect that it likewise preys upon fish.
"Bellonius, in the first book of his observations, 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 boys to hunt for it with Cicada', as they do also for those greater swallows called Swifts, after this manner :—Bending a pin like a hook, and tying it by the head to the end of a thread, they thrust it through a Cicada (as boys bait a book with a fly), holding the other end of the thread in their hand. The Cicada so fastened flies, nevertheless, in the air, which the Merops spying, flies after it with all her force, and catching it, swallows pin and all, wherewith she is caught." The passage in Aristotle, mentioning the Merops as one of the enemies most destructive to bees, is in the 40th chapter of the 9th book of his ' History of Animals ;' and there are others in the 1st chapter of his 6th hook, and in the 13th chapter of his 9th, wherein he notices the peculiarity of its making its nest in holes in the earth.
The species, although not common, may be considered as an occa sional visitant to this country. The first record of its appearance is in the third volume of the Transactions of the Linnxan Society,' from which it appears that on "July 2, 1794, the president communi cated an account of Merops Apiaster, the Bee-Eater, having been shot (for the first time in Great Britain) near Mattishall, in the county of Norfolk, by the Rev. Mr. George Smith. The identical specimen was exhibited by permission of Mr•. Thomas Talbot, of Wymondham. A flight of about twenty was seen in June, and the same flight probably (much diminished in number) was observed passing over the same spot in October following." Since then four or five specimens have been recorded to have been shot in the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk, one in Dorsetshire, three in Devonshire, one in Cornwall and one in Ireland. (Yarrell, British Birds.)