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PASSERES.—MEROPIDÆ.
for its flesh is sufficiently esteemed to be sold in the markets both of Italy and Egypt,
BEE-EATER.
Belon, quoted by Ray, 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 (Candia) boys to hunt for it with Cieadæ, as they do also for those greater swallows
