PICARIAN BIRDS AND PARROTS OF CEYLON. 215 
edge of the wing being turquoise ; wing quills deep purplish- 
blue tipped with dusky brown and with a broad band of 
turquoise across the six outer primaries. Chin sandy buff ; 
throat and sides of the head purplish-lilac with broad pale 
shaft-stripes; breast llac-brown; abdomen, wing lining, 
thighs, and lower tail coverts pale greenish-blue. 
Bill blackish-brown ; iris grayish-brown ; eyelids and naked 
skin round eye pale orange-yellow ; legs and feet brownish- 
yellow. 
Length 13; wing 7; tail 4°75; tarsus °9; bill from gape 
PTO. 
Distribution —Found chiefly in the drier northern half of 
the Island ; during the north-east monsoon it wanders south 
to the Western, Province and Ratnapura District, where it 
also occasionally breeds. Occurs in suitable localities over 
most of India, but avoids the hills, thick forests, and deserts. 
It straggles westwards to Asia Minor. 
Habits, &c.—Generally seen in open compounds, round 
paddy fields, or near the borders of tanks. It is extremely 
fond of perching on dead trees or telegraph wires. The cry 
is a harsh grating call. The bird feeds largely on insects. 
The breeding season extends from January to June. The 
nest is a hole generally in a rotten tree, sometimes in an old 
wall. It is lined with a modicum of grass or vegetable fibre. 
The eggs generally number four, sometimes five. They are 
almost round and of a glossy china white. Average size of 
a small Ceylon series 1°38 by 1-10. 
EURYSTOMUS ORIENTALIS (Blanford, Vol. IJ., p. 107; 
Legge, p. 285). 
The Broad-billed Roller. 
Description. Head, face, and chin rusty black, slightly 
tinged on the nape with green. Rest of upper plumage dark 
dull green, with a tinge of dark blue on the rump, tail coverts, 
and wing coverts. Primary coverts deep blue ; quills black, 
washed with deep blue on the outer webs ; outer primaries 
crossed with a broad band of turquoise-blue ; tail black, 
washed on the outer half with deep blue, the basal portion of 
the central feathers shading into the dark blue-green of the 
