. British bee journal & bee-keepers adviser. Bees. 354 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 26, 1888. in her gizzard I found a number of small coleoptera, the remains of a humble bee, and the three disjointed (head, thorax, and abdomen) portions of a large common wasp, the last segment of the abdomen containing the sting being telescoped into the anterior portion, whether by design on the bird's part, or accident, I had no means to determine. At the same shot I killed two young ones: one had nothing recognisable in the gizzard, but the other had the remains of a honey bee (Italian), no doubt, an
. British bee journal & bee-keepers adviser. Bees. 354 THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. [July 26, 1888. in her gizzard I found a number of small coleoptera, the remains of a humble bee, and the three disjointed (head, thorax, and abdomen) portions of a large common wasp, the last segment of the abdomen containing the sting being telescoped into the anterior portion, whether by design on the bird's part, or accident, I had no means to determine. At the same shot I killed two young ones: one had nothing recognisable in the gizzard, but the other had the remains of a honey bee (Italian), no doubt, an early riser. I noticed after that one of my colonies was flyiDg occasionally. 1 may mention that a small portion of the remains of a small bird were found in the gizzard of the cock bird. Not being entirely satisfied, as I thought these might be only individual apicides, I waited upon another pair who I knew had their nest about a quarter to half a mile away from my apiary and close to a field of white clover. Upon procuring the cock and hen during the flight time of bees I found the same results, the contents of gizzard being chiefly composed of the remains of small coleoptera and honey bees. The digestion of these birds is exceedingly rapid. I have seen them pounce down upon something in my apiary—I know now what that something was—three times in a minute, this being quite a common thing when feeding their young ones (five). Both hen and cock forage for the family, the cock being most daring, coming within fifteen yards, evidently watching your every movement. What an enormous quantity of bees these two pair of birds and their families must have consumed! As I only destroyed them a fortnight ago, I cannot tell whether the rate of missing queens is reduced or not. One most remarkable thing is that I did not find a single remain of a drone; these fly upwards and straight away the instant after leaving the hive. The butcher- bird pounces down upon its prey from some low bra
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