CORAClADiE. 217 



Buchanan Hamilton also states that before the Durga Puja, the 

 Hindoos of Calcutta purchase one of these birds, and at the 

 time when they throw the image of Durga into the river, set the 

 I^ilkant at liberty. It is considered propitious to see it on this 

 day, and those who cannot afiord to buy one, discharge their 

 matchlocks to put it on the wing. The Telugu name of the Roller, 

 signifying Milk-bird, is given because it is supposed that when a 

 cow gives little milk, if a few of the feathers of this bird are 

 chopped up and given along with grass to the cow, the quantity 

 will greatly increase. It is one of the birds on whose movements 

 many omens depend. If it cross a traveller just after starting, 

 it is considered a bad omen. 



124. Coracias afl&nis, McLelland. 



P. Z. S. 1839— Gray's Illustrated Genera of Birds, pL 21— 

 Bltth, Cat. 225 — Horsf., Cat. 857. 



The Burmese Roller. 



Descr. — Head above dusky greenish-blue ; back of neck, 

 upper back, scapulars and tertiaries, dusky-greenish ; lower back 

 purplish-blue ; upper tail coverts bright cagrulean ; the two middle 

 tail-feathers dull-green ; all the others rich purple at the base, 

 tipped with pale blue, most broadly so on the outermost 

 feathers ; wings with the smaller coverts purple, the greater 

 coverts of primaries, and winglet, shining pale blue ; those of 

 the secondaries dull greenish-blue, purplish at base ; quills rich 

 •purple ; the first five quills with a broad band of pale blue near 

 the tip, which is dark ; the secondaries, and the last five or six 

 primaries, with a band on the outer web near the middle, also 

 pale blue ; lores, cheeks, ear-coverts, throat and breast, purplish, 

 mixed with brown ; the middle of the abdomen vinous-rufescent, 

 with a purplish tinge ; the lower belly, vent, thigh-coverts, and 

 under tail-coverts, pale blue, partially mixed with purple, which 

 predominates on the flanks. 



Bill black ; legs dirty yellow ; irides red brown. Length 13 to 

 14 inches ; extent 24 ; wing 8 ; tail 4^ to 4|, about 2 inches 

 beyond wing; bill at front If. 



2 E 



