1917-] the Birds of Yemen. 177 



by the Danish traveller Forskal in the Yemen in the 18th 

 century, and described in his posthumons ' Descriptioues/ 

 though, as he can hardly be called a binomial author, it is 

 better to date the name from Gmelin, 



Coracias ahyssinus. 



Coracias abyssinus Boddaert, Tabl. PI. Enl. 1783_, pi. 38 : 

 Abyssinia. 



Yerbury, 86, p. 15, 96, p. 20 ; Barnes, 93, p. 72 ; O. -Grant 

 1900, p. 260. 



n,b. c? ? . Hajeilah, 2080 ft, 15. iii. & 4. iv. 13. 



'^ Among the denser bush of Hajeilah gayer birds prevail, 

 especially the long-tailed Roller, a symphony in cobalt and 

 azure, shaded delicately with fawn. The male sports a long, 

 finely pointed tail, and spends a great deal of his time with 

 raffish bachelor birds on tiie field telegraph-wire to Sanaa, 

 while the female stays at home in some pullarded jnjube-tree 

 and bites her tapering tail with vexation ; that is why all 

 female Rollers of this t^^pe have such ragged tails. But the 

 gad-about male is not a bad husband. He will work for 

 hours when locusts are arriving to sup[)ly the home-lardei*, 

 and may often be heard singing a kind of love-song as he 

 cuts somersaults and volplanes to cheer his nesting mate." 



These are the first Arabian representatives of the Abys- 

 sinian Roller which have reached the British Museum. I 

 have therefore carefully compared them with the series from 

 northern Africa, and have come to the conclusion that no 

 sufficient distinction can be detected to justify the separation 

 of the Arabian bird from that of Abyssinia. The West 

 African Roller, however, has a strong wash of greenish on 

 the crown, and can be well considered a distinct race under 

 the name of G. abyssinus seneyalensis, as projiosed by 

 Reichenow. 



Reichenow states that in an example of this species from 

 Arabia examined by him the feathers of the middle of the 

 back were pale blue like the crown and nape. He scenes 

 uncertain whether this bird is an accidental variation or 

 represents a distinct race. The birds collected by Bury in 



SEK. X. — VOL. V. N 



