196 Mr. R. B. Sharpe on the 



under surface of the body with the under wing- and tail-coverts 

 brilliant greenish cobalt; bill black; feet brown. 



Adult female. Exactly similar to the adult male. 

 Young. Similar to the adults, but has all the colours percep- 

 tibly duller ; the cheeks and upper part of the breast dull vina- 

 ceous, with the white streaks broader and more plainly marked, 

 and the elongated tail-feathers not developed. 



Very old specimens of this Roller may be determined by the 

 absence of white shaft-stripes on the chest, which is consequently 

 of a beautiful uniform vinous colour, richly glossed with lilac ; 

 the stripes on the throat are also very narrow and of a pure 

 white. This vinaceous colour on the breast readily distinguishes 

 it from its nearest ally, C abyssinica, which has this part of the 

 body of a beautiful greenish-blue colour. 



Hab. Eastern Africa: Bogue in Uzinza (,S;;e^e), Usaramo 

 (Speke), Zanzibar {Kirk), Osi River {von der Decken), Mosam- 

 bique {Mus. Hein.), Zambesi {Kirk). Southern Africa : Natal 

 {Delegorgue, Ayres), Matabili {Exton), Kuruman {Moffat, 

 Layard), Kurrichaine {Verreaux), Damara hdiXidi {Andersson). 

 Western Africa, Angola, Ambriz {Monteiro), Loanda {Toul- 

 son), Huilla, Quillengues, Ambaca {Anchieta) . 



This species, although sufficiently distinct from C. abyssinica, 

 and figured as another species by Buffon, was nevertheless for 

 some time considered to be a made-up bird. Levaillant, after 

 an examination of BufFon^s type, was convinced that it was 

 nothing more than an Abyssinian Roller, with the head of the 

 Rollier de Mindanao (PI. En). 285, Coracias indica) stuck on. 

 Considering Levaillant's experience of factitious birds, I am 

 surprised he did not know better ; but his confident assertion 

 misled all the best ornithologists till the unfortunate bird 

 fell under the notice of Dr. Pucheran (Rev. Zool. 1845, p. 369), 

 who, with that wonderful patience which has rendered him one of 

 the most esteemed ornithologists for the unravelling of confused 

 synonymy, at once detected the error, and restored this beautiful 

 Roller to its proper position in the natural system. 



So far as can be at present determined, the Long-tailed 

 Roller replaces the Abyssinian Roller throughout the southern 

 portion of the Ethiopian region. It seems, however, to extend 



