CORACIID.E. 



281 



THE ROLLER. 



CORACIAS GARRULUS, LilinffiUS. 



This bright-plumaged bird was first recorded as a visitor to our 

 islands by Sir Thomas Browne, who described a specimen obtained 

 in Norfolk in May 1644. Since then, upwards of a hundred 

 examples have been noticed, chiefly in the southern and eastern 

 counties of England and Scotland ; some, however, have visited 

 Caithness and the Orkneys, while in the west one has even reached 

 St. Kilda. In Ireland there have been seven or eight occurrences, 

 at long intervals. The majority of appearances in the British 

 Islands have been in the autumn, but a fair proportion during the 

 spring migration. 



To the Faeroes and the north of Norway the Roller is only a 

 straggler, and it is scarce in any part of the latter country ; but in 

 Sweden it breeds annually up to about 61° N. lat, and in Russia, 

 sparingly, as far north as St. Petersburg. In Northern Germany 

 it is not uncommon in summer, though rare in Denmark, Holland, 

 Belgium and Northern France ; it is tolerably abundant in Central 

 Europe ; while in Spain and other countries bordering the 

 Mediterranean it is very numerous, arriving in the Peninsula from 

 the middle of March onwards, and leaving by November at the 

 latest. It is plentiful in Turkey, Southern Russia, Asia Minor, 



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