BEAUTIFUL BIRDS.

Bee-eaters and Swallows.

FISSIROSTRES.

THE birds now under consideration are distinguished from the Dentirostres by a very wide gape, together with a weak conformation of legs and feet; and further by their extraordinary powers of flight, and by feeding exclusively (the typical families at least) upon insects, which they capture during their flight. So little occasion have they to use their feet, that these . members appear modified and diminished to the utmost extent, and only capable of serving as a support to the body when at rest. A great diversity of structure is, however, observed among the different groups of perching birds which constitute the division Fissirostres. The whole tribe is divided into the following families, namely, Meropida, or Bee-eaters; Hirundinidæ, or Swallows; Caprimulgida, or Goatsuckers; Trogonidæ, or Trogons; and Halcyonidæ, or Kingfishers.

The connecting links between the Meropide and the Muscicapide (Flycatchers) appear to be the genera Gubernetes on the side of the last-named family, and Eurystomus on that of the Bee-eaters. The latter genus contains the Swallow-rollers of India, Africa, and Australia, splendilyd clothed in sea-green and vivid blue plumage. To these succeed the true Rollers (Coracias), natives of the Eastern continent, with splendid plumage and, generally speaking VOL. II.

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handsome forms, but their voice is harsh and disagreeable. They inhabit the depths of forests, and are not, therefore, often observed. Their general conformation would induce the idea that they feed upon the wing, and not upon the ground, as has hitherto been supposed. Their generic characters are: Bill of mean length, higher than broad, compressed, straight; the upper mandible bent at the point; gape wide; nostrils basal and lateral, half-covered by a membrane, which is furnished with stiff, bristly feathers; wings long, acuminated, having the first quill shorter than the second, which is the longest in the wing; tarsus shorter than the middle toe; tail generally long, capable of spreading, and composed of firm feathers; feet short; all the toes free to their bases; inner toe the shortest.

A few accidental stragglers of one of the species, Coracias garrula (the Garrulous or European Roller), have at different times been taken in Great Britain. In Germany this species appears to be common; and it is also numerous in many parts of Sweden and Denm ark. It is a bird of restless and fierce disposi tion, and very clamorous.

Mr. Swainson, in the second volume of his "Birds of Western Africa," referring to the Blue-bodied Roller (Coracias cyanogaster), says, if richness of colouring alone constituted beauty, this Roller would be the most splendid of all the birds of Western AfricaNo effort of art can possibly do justice to those inimitable rich lines of ultramarine, beryl colour, and changeable fawn, with which it is ornamented; for there are no tints hitherto discovered, either mineral or vegetable, which will enable the painter to produce

their successful imitation. The total length of the bird is about thirteen inches. The whole of the head, neck, throat, and breast is enveloped, as it were, in a hood of very light drab, or fawn colour, glossed with green, which changes its tint in different directions of light; the drab sometimes assumes a warmer ferruginous tinge, while in others it seems changed into a light but dull yellowish-green; the front, chin, and eyebrows are paler, and almost white; a black mantle spreads over the interscapulars and the scapular-covers; the wings are of the deepest and most brilliant mazarine blue, except the basal half of the quills, which are of a light beryl or blue-green colour; the lower part of the back and upper tail-covers are deep blue, so also are the corresponding parts on the upper plumage, that is, from the breast to the vent; the tail is light sea-green, brightest beneath. The under wingcovers, and the breast-plumes close to them, are of the same turquoise green as the tail; bills and legs blackish. The bill of the true Bee-eater, forming the genus Merops, is

long, slender

and slightly

curved; tri

angular at

the base,

and having

an elevated

ridge on the

culmen. Nos

trils, basal, lateral, oval, and open, partly hidden by

reflected bristles.

Feet having the tarsus short, with

three toes before and one behind, the outer toe being joined to the middle one as far as the second joint; the inner one the same as far as the first. Claws small, curved; that of the hind toe the smallest. Wings long and pointed; the first quill very short, and the second the longest in the wing. The form of the tail varies with the species, being square at the end in some, forked in others, and in others, again, with the middle feathers produced; but in all the species it is of considerable length.

In the breast-bone of the Bee-eater the keel is very much produced, as in all birds of powerful wing, and extends the whole length of the sternum. This bone, Mr. Mudie observes, is very beautifully adapted to the habits of its owner. It combines great flying power length for the support of a body habitually. on the wing, and flexibility in the posterior angles, by means of which the bird can better thread its way among obstacles. And the birds of this and the analogous genera are all powerful, and long continued in their flight, although none of them are lofty fliers. Feeding chiefly upon winged insects by the banks of rivers, or over other humid surfaces in warm climates, where vegetation is luxuriant, they have to pursue their prey among twigs and branches, the pendent festoons of climbing plants, and the tall stems and large leaves of aquatic ones, so that while they pursue in a swift and smooth forward flight, it is also necessary that they should be able to guide and turn in all directions with the utmost freedom. This facility in turning is very necessary to birds which feed upon insects, many of which are them

selves carnivorous, or hawk for their prey in the bushes or on the leaves, and others are to be sought for in the corollas of plants, into which they have plunged for the sake of the sweet juices which accumulate there.*

The plumage of these birds is extremely beautiful, rich and metallic in its lustre, and very firm in texture. They get their English name of Bee-eater from their food consisting principally of bees, wasps, hornets, and other insects of comparatively long and rapid flight. They dig holes to a considerable depth in the banks of rivers, wherein to deposit their eggs and rear their brood. Their feet, which are powerless in assisting them to find their food, or to aid in its capture, become effective instruments in excavating a hole in a soft bank for the important office of incubation. The young birds continue for a long time in the nest after they are hatched, and they are fed there by the parents. In proportion as the plumage that is to be produced is firm or lax, the time that their young remain in their nest is long or short. That of the partridge and plover is loose or downy, and the young are able to leave the nest almost as soon as they are hatched; but the plumage of the Bee-eater is compact and stiff, and some time is required for the production of the delicate tissue of vessels which is necessary for the firm structure of the Bee-eater's feathers. It is on these compact and firm feathers that the rays of the sun appear to act most powerfully, for they are generally the most highly coloured and lustrous; and those birds that are the most ex

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* Natural History of Birds.