No. 7.] WHITEAVES — HIMALAYAN BIRDS. 399 



the beak is cleft. The most typical representatives of this group 

 are the Goatsuckers and the Swallows. 



The Burmese Roller belongs to the typical genus Coracias, 

 iu which the bill is flattened sideways. The Rollers are con- 

 fined exclusively to the Eastern Hemisphere. In tropical 

 America they are represented by the Motmots, Red breasted 

 Crows and Trogons. The Rollers are arboreal in their habits 

 and feed on insects and fruits. They breed sometimes in trees 

 and often in holes in the ground. The European species is 

 called the Birch Jay by the Germans, and the Ultramarine Jay 

 by the Italians. The Rollers are essentially tropical birds. 



The Bengal Kingfisher of India and the Crested Kingfisher 

 of the Cape of Good Hope, are fluviatile in their habits, 

 and feed on fish. Like the common British species, which 

 they resemble very closely in colour, both breed in holes 

 in river banks. The Ruddy and the White breasted Halcyons 

 are Tree Kingfishers and mostly inhabit woodland districts often 

 far from water. Their beaks are much broader than those of 

 the true kingfishers, and they have more powerful feet. They 

 live upon insects, such as beetles and grasshoppers, and breed in 

 holes in trees generally at some distance from any water. 



The GreenBee Eater of India belongs also to an exclusively Old 

 World group, of singularly elegant and swallow-like form. This 

 species often selects a perch in some prominent position from 

 which it dashes ofi" in pursuit of any insect that comes within 

 sight, returning again to its perch in the same manner as the 

 fly-catchers do. On coming back to their station, Mr. Layard 

 has observed them beating their prey against the perch to bruise 

 it before swallowing it. This mode of capturing food is princi- 

 pally resorted to in the middle of the day, for in the mornings 

 and evenings these same species may be seen hawking about in 

 company with swallows. The habits of the European species 

 were known to Aristotle, who describes it as a great enemy to 

 bees, and as building in holes in the ground. Montague says 

 that in the South of Russia, where the Common Bee Eater is 

 very numerous, the clayey banks of the Don and Wolga are ex- 

 cavated by them to such an extent as to have the appearance of 

 honeycomb. In the Island of Crete the Common Bee Eater is 

 often taken by boys in a singular manner. A Cicada is fastened 

 to a bent pin, or fish hook, which is attached to a long slender 

 line. The insect is then allowed to fly, and as soon as «i Bee- 



