VI 



CORACIIDAE 377 



tail with light blue on the lateral feathers, the outer pair alone 

 having black tips. In the similar C. ahjssinicus the two outer 

 rectrices are elongated and tapering ; in the more purple C. spatu- 

 latus they are cobalt-blue with black shafts produced into small 

 racquets. C. naevius has an olivaceous back, reddish-lilac head 

 and under parts, a white nuchal patch, white streaks on the breast, 

 blue rump, bend of the wing, lateral rectrices and outer portion of 

 the remiges. The genxxs, Eurystomus occupies Tropical Africa, and ex- 

 tends from India to Manchuria, Australia and the Solomon Islands, 

 occasionally reaching Xew Zealand. E. glaucurus, of Madagascar 

 and Anjuan Island, is bay above and lilac below, with nearly ultra- 

 marine wings and cobalt tail tipped with blackish ; E. orientalis 

 is bluish-green, with blackish head, remiges and rectrices, some 

 blue on the wing-coverts, an azure patch on the primaries, and a 

 purple throat. E. australis is similar, and is termed the Dollar- 

 Bird from exhibiting its circular light wing-patch when flying. 



The members of these two genera are active, noisy, and 

 pugnacious, though shy ; they are usually diurnal, but are occa- 

 sionally observed hawking for insects at dusk ; when disturbed 

 tliey attempt to hide in some neighbouring tree, while they also 

 roost or take refuge from the heat among the foliage. The flight 

 is swift, though not sustained, the wings being closed from time 

 to time ; at the courting season the male darts through the air 

 with many a turn and twist, expanding and contracting his 

 tail ; and both sexes have the habit of rolling or turning somer- 

 saults in their course, and of puffing out their cheeks and throat. 

 The note is a harsh " rack-rack -kack " or " racker-racker," uttered 

 while perched or flying ; the food, largely procured when hopping 

 on the ground, and frequently jerked into the air before being 

 swallowed, consists of small reptiles, frogs, beetles, worms, slugs 

 and grasshoppers, if not of grain. Eollers frecjuent wooded 

 country up to an altitude of about two thousand feet, in pairs 

 or moderate-sized flocks ; they occasionally sit huddled together 

 on some branch, but love to perch on tall bare trees or wires, 

 whence they energetically challenge Hawks and Crows. The 

 four or five oval glossy white eggs are sometimes laid on a mass 

 of roots, grass, hair, and feathers, in cavities in walls or under 

 eaves of buildings ; but more usually with little or no bedding in 

 holes in trees or banks. In the breeding season the cock summons 

 the hen from her nest, if danger threatens, while both parents 



