THE ROLLERS. bS'l 
THE ROLLERS. | 
The Rollers form a small family of insectivorous birds of 
rather large size, found in the warm and temperate regions 
of the Old World. They are nearly as big as the 
House-Crow, and have strong crow-like bills, large wings, 
and tail of moderate length. Their legs are short, scaled 
behind as well as in front, and the toes are three 
before and one behind, the hinder toe being the smallest. 
and the outer front toe as iong as the middle one. I go 
ito these details, because the Rollers, being of about 
the same size and having much blue in their plumage, 
are often called Jays, especially in India. The Jay’s foot, 
however, is very different from a Roiler’s both in the 
sealing and the proportions of the toes, resembling in 
these points a Crow’s as described in Chapter II. The 
Roilers differ much in their habits from the active and 
skulking Jays; they sit about most of the time, swoop- 
ing down occasionally for their food from their conspi- 
cuous perch ; they do not eat vegetable food and they 
build in holes, laying white eggs quite unlike those of any 
of the Crow tribe. As a matter of fact, they are nearly 
related to the Kingfishers. The cock and hen are always 
alike, and the young much resemble them. 
THE IypiAN RouLuerR or BiusE-Jay (Coracias indica), 
is called Nilkant by the natives, and is sacred to Siva. 
Most people know this magnificent bird by sight. About 
the size of a pigeon, its slow, lazy flight makes the 
pale-blue and purple bands of its wings and tail conspi- 
cuous ; though when it is on the ground or a perch, the 
drab, sea-green, and dull pink of its body-colour render 
