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have comparatively short legs and the 

 nostrils are narrow and slit-like. 



Family, Coraciidae, The Rollers. 



The Eollers are a small family 

 confined to the Old World. Their feet 

 are small and weak, and the toes more 

 or less united. The wings are long and 

 broad and the tarsus relatively short. 



They are shy birds, distinctly 

 arboreal in their habits, though strong 

 active fliers. They have a peculiar 

 habit of rolling from side to side in 

 flight, from which they get their 

 common name. Their food consists of 

 insects which are taken largely on the 

 wing. 



BROAD BILLED ROLLER. 



EURYSTOMUS ORIENTALIS CALONYX 



SHARPE. 



[Eurystomus orientalis (L).] 



(Eurystomus calonyx Sharpe) 



Description. — Length 11 inches. 



Bill red, tipped with black. Toes red. 

 Iris dark brown. 



Dull green above, bright green below. 

 Throat with a brilliant blue spot. 

 Tail black, washed with blue above. 

 The wing has a large spot of very 

 light blue, plainly visible in flight ; 

 outer webs of primaries are deep blue 

 shading to black toward the tip. 



Young birds do not have the blue 

 spot on the thi.'oat and the plumage of 

 the head and back is more mixed with 

 brown. 



Distribution. — This handsome bird 

 is a native of India, but passes the 

 summer in China in considerable 

 numbers. It occurs in the Yangtse 

 Valley on the hills during the summer. 



