196 MEROriD.E. 



The fifth ami last division of tlic Insessokes, or Perching 

 Birds, is that of the Fissirostkes, which, with slender 

 or small feet, have also considerable width of gape, and 

 feed more or less upon the wing. The British species 

 included in this division are the Roller, the Bee-eater, the 

 Kingfisher, the Swallow, the two Martins, the two Swifts, 

 and the Nightjar ; among which it will be perceived, from 

 their well-known powers, that those last named have the 

 characters pertaining to this division most strongly marked. 

 The Roller has by several systematic authors been arranged 

 near the Crows ; but its colours, its habits, and other pecu- 

 liarities, seem to prove that it is more truly allied to the 

 Bee-eaters, Meropida, and the Kingfishers, Halci/onida;. 



The Roller is a native of Africa, from the northern parts 

 of which many of them pass to Europe in the spring, return- 

 ing in autumn, and are accordingly abundant at Malta, and 

 other islands in the Mediterranean, which are resting-places 

 on the passage. Shaw, in his History of Barbary, says, 

 " This bird makes a squalling noise, and builds in the banks 

 of the SheliflP, Booberak, and other rivers." M. Vieillot 

 mentions that where trees are scarce, as in Malta, these birds 

 are said to make their nest in the ground ; and Pennant, in 

 his Arctic Zoology, confirms this habit, from other authori- 

 ties, by remarking that in places where trees are wanting, the 

 Roller forms its nest in clayey banks. This mode of nesting 

 and depositing its eggs is precisely similar to the habits of 

 the Bee-eater and the King-fisher, hereafter to be described, 

 and the eggs of each of these three birds are exactly alike in 

 colour and shape, and only differ in size in relation to the 

 proportions of the parent birds. 



In Malta, at certain seasons. Rollers are caught in such 

 numbers tliat they are exposed in the market for sale with 

 Hoopoes, Bee-eaters, and others. The Maltese are very 

 expert in taking these birds alive. On the European con- 



