The BEE-EATERS (_Meropes_) comprise some of the most beautiful birds inhabiting the Eastern Hemisphere, and present so many peculiarities as to render their identification easy. Their body is very slender; the beak longer than the head, with both mandibles slightly curved, the upper one a trifle longer than the lower; the culmen, margins, and tip are sharp; the short, small foot has three toes, the exterior of which is connected with that in the centre as far as the second joint, whilst the inner toe is not joined to the latter beyond the first joint; the claws are long, hooked, sharp, and furnished with a prominent ridge on the inner side; the wing, in which the second quill exceeds the rest in length, is long and pointed; the tail is long, either straight, forked, or slightly rounded at its extremity; in some species the centre tail-feathers are twice as long as those at the exterior. The brilliantly variegated plumage is short and thick; the sexes are almost alike in colour, and the young acquire the same hues as their parents within the second year. One species of Bee-eater is found in Australia; but with this exception all the members of this group inhabit the Eastern Hemisphere. As regards their general habits, the Bee-eaters nearly resemble the Swallows, and, like them, are to be seen darting through the air when the sun is shining, in active pursuit of the insect hosts. Insects afford these pretty birds their principal means of subsistence, and, as their name implies, they eagerly devour large quantities of bees and wasps. The nests of the Bee-eaters are usually placed near together in holes in the ground or sand, and contain from four to seven pure white eggs. THE COMMON BEE-EATER. The COMMON BEE-EATER (_Merops apiaster_) (Coloured Plate XXIV.), one of the largest members of this family, is ten inches long and seventeen broad; the wing measures five inches and one-third, and the tail from four inches to four and a quarter. In this species the brow is white, and top of the head green; the nape, sides of the neck, and centre of the wings are chestnut-brown; the back is yellow, with a greenish gloss; the cheek-stripes, which terminate at the back of the neck, and a line around the pale yellow throat are black; the under side and rump are blue or blueish green; the quills grass-green, blue on their outer web, and tipped with black; the tail-feathers are blueish green, shaded with yellow, the long centre pair are also tipped with black; the eye is bright red, the beak black, and the foot of a reddish hue.