. Reptiles and birds. A popular account of the various orders; with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting. . ightlycurved, and pointed, the mandible having a trenchant edge; the tarsishort; the wings long and pointed; the tail well-developed, tapering,or forked. They are slender, graceful birds. Their cries, while theyskim through the air on rapid wing, are incessant. The name ofBee-eaters they receive from their principal food, which consists ofvarious Hymenoptera, especially bees and wasps. They seize their THE BEE-EATERS. 461 prey either on the wing, Hke the swallo
. Reptiles and birds. A popular account of the various orders; with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting. . ightlycurved, and pointed, the mandible having a trenchant edge; the tarsishort; the wings long and pointed; the tail well-developed, tapering,or forked. They are slender, graceful birds. Their cries, while theyskim through the air on rapid wing, are incessant. The name ofBee-eaters they receive from their principal food, which consists ofvarious Hymenoptera, especially bees and wasps. They seize their THE BEE-EATERS. 461 prey either on the wing, Hke the swallows, or secrete themselves at theentrance to a hive, and catch the inmates that enter or depart, whosestings they are skilful in avoiding. Living together in numerousflocks, they rapidly clear a district of wasps and bees, They build their nests in the banks of rivers or rivulets, in holeswhich they excavate to the depth of six or seven feet. Some speciesare highly esteemed as table delicacies by the French. The Bee-eaters inhabit the warmer regions of the Old World,such as Bengal, the west coast of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope,. Fig. 183.—Brazilian Motmot. Morocco, Malta. One species alone is found in Europe, theCommon Bee-eater {Mei^ops apiastei, Fig. 182). From the coast ofAfrica it migrates in small flocks into the countries skirting thenorthern shores of the Mediterranean. Some individuals proceedinto France, Switzerland, and Germany; others spread themselvesover Turkey and the southern parts of Russia. In England it isoccasionally met with in Cornwall, Devonshire, and along theHampshire coast. It has been shot in the Mull of Galloway. InFrance it arrives in the month of May, and remains but a shorttime. As a rule it rarely ventures further north than the south ofFrance. The Motmots {Momotus) are birds still very imperfectly known. 462 REPTILES AND BIRDS. They are remarkably massive in form, Heavy and slow on the are placed by systematists near the Toucans {Ram
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectrep
