Coraciidse of the Ethiopian Region. 185 



geographical areas, the ruddy-coloured species being strictly 

 Ethiopian, and the blue-coloured species strictly Indian and 

 Australian . 



From studying the Kingfishers {Alee dini dee) , I am led to 

 consider that the possession of a blue colour by one species, 

 and of a ruddy tint by another, does not indicate remote rela- 

 tionship. This is especially illustrated by Halcyon coromanda, 

 and the rufous Ceijces {C. rufidorsa, &c.), when compared with 

 the other members of their respective genera. So with Eury- 

 stomus. Change the lilac tints into blue all over the body, and 

 the African Broad-billed Rollers assume the exact style of colo- 

 ration of their eastern congeners. 



All the Rollers [Coraciince) are decorated with brilliant feathers 

 about the throat. They also possess the power of puffing out the 

 throat and cheeks. I am unable, from want of material, to state 

 precisely the exact number of blue-coloured species o^ Eurystomus, 

 as the number of members constituting this group appears to be 

 uncertain, and a lengthened study may determine the existence of 

 more species than are at present supposed to exist. Their range 

 appears to extend throughout the Indo-Chinese region and tlie 

 Australian and A ustro-Malayan subregions — two species, E. 

 azureus, G. R. Gray, from Batchian, and E. crassirosti'is, Sclater, 

 from the Solomon Islands, being apparently peculiar to the lat- 

 ter division. The ruddy-coloured Eurystomi take their place 

 in Africa and Madagascar. No species of Eurystomus is found, 

 so far as is at present known, anywhere between the above-men- 

 tioned portions of the Indian and Ethiopian regions. Through- 

 out the Western Palsearctie region Coracias garrula is widely 

 distributed, and its range extends along the eastern limits, oc- 

 curring in Cashmere and Afghanistan ; in the Ethiopian region 

 it is migratory. Here its place is supplied by Coracias navia, 

 which is found throughout the entire length of Africa, being the 

 only typical Coracias indigenous to the region. Beside these, 

 there are three long-tailed Rollers {Coraciura, Bp.) which are 

 peculiar to the Ethiopian i*egion, and form a section of the genus 

 Coracias. In India we find the well-known C. indica replaced 

 to the eastward in Assam by C. affinis. Where the ranges of 

 these two birds overlap they are known to interbreed, and hy- 



