. A history of British birds. By the Rev. Morris .. . dges are jagged, especially on the lower side, and mostso in the middle; back, light bluish slate-colour. The wingsexpand to the width of one foot eight inches; greater andlesser wing coverts, slate blue, spotted with white; primaries, 20 BELTED •EITfGFISHEE. black, spotted with white; secondaries, the same on the innerwebs. The tail feathers black, elegantly spotted with whiteon the inner webs, and slate blue on the outer j beneath it islight coloured; legs, very short, dull yello\Yish, bare for halfan inch above the knee. The two out
. A history of British birds. By the Rev. Morris .. . dges are jagged, especially on the lower side, and mostso in the middle; back, light bluish slate-colour. The wingsexpand to the width of one foot eight inches; greater andlesser wing coverts, slate blue, spotted with white; primaries, 20 BELTED •EITfGFISHEE. black, spotted with white; secondaries, the same on the innerwebs. The tail feathers black, elegantly spotted with whiteon the inner webs, and slate blue on the outer j beneath it islight coloured; legs, very short, dull yello\Yish, bare for halfan inch above the knee. The two outer toes are unitedtogether for nearly their whole length; claws, strong and female is sprinkled all over with spots of white. Head,deeper coloured than the back; the white on the chin andthroat is of an exquisitely fine glossy texture, lilce satin; theband on the breast is nearly half reddish brown, and a littlebelow it is a band of bright reddish bay, spreading on eachside under the wings; the feathers on the breast are verystrons and EEE-EATER. 21 BEE-EATER. YELLOW-THROATED BEE-EATER. COMMON 3Ierops aplasfer, Linnaeus. Pennant. chri/socephahis, Latham. * GalilcEus, Hasselquist. Merops—A bird that eateth bees. Apiaster. Apis—A bee. The splendid-plumaged Bee-eater holds some affinity, aswill appear, to the Swallows—in its flight, manner of takingits food, nidification, the shortness of its legs, and the appear-ance of its eggs. In Italy it is esteemed good eating, andis sold in the markets accordingly. Perhaps the taste mayhave descended from Heliogabalus; for, if I remember right,even the gay exterior of birds was called into requisition togive zest to the recherche character of his gourmanderie,so to gallicize a word for the occasion. In Asia Minor and the adjacent countries to the north,and in North Africa, these birds are extremely abundant, andmay often be seen flying about in thousands. In variousparts of Europe they are a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, bookpublisherl, booksubjectbirds
