Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In ornithology, an old name of the bee-eater; in 1760 made by Brisson a generic name for the bee-eaters; now the specific name of the European bee-eater, Merops apiaster. See cut under bee-eater.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The Camargue (Rhone Delta) breeding bird species include 8 heron species, Gelochelidon nilotica, Coracias garrulus, Merops apiaster, Plegadis falcinellus, Phoenicopterus ruber (the largest colony of flamingo in the Mediterranean), Glareola pratincola, and gulls.

    Northeastern Spain and Southern France Mediterranean forests 2007

  • He was a very _merops apiaster_, or bee-bird, and very injurious to men that kept bees; for he would slide into their bee-gardens, and, sitting down before the stools would rap with his finger on the hives, and so take the bees as they came out.

    The Natural History of Selborne, Vol. 2 Gilbert White 1756

  • 27 ‘Merops apiaster’ and ‘M. bullockoides’ (Smith).

    Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa 2004

Comments

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  • This is a bird.

    February 6, 2013