266 MEROPID^E. 



questionable, according to Yarrell, who says that " it can- 

 not crack nuts." Here perhaps there may be some little 

 mistake. Its name is evidently a translation of the 

 French Casse-noix. In England we mean by " nuts " fil- 

 berts or hazel-nuts ; but the French word noix is applied 

 exclusively to walnuts, our nuts being noisettes, or " little 

 nuts ;" and French authors are agreed that its food consists 

 of insects, fruits, and walnuts ; that is, the ordinary diet 

 of its relative, the Eook, whose fondness for walnuts is 

 notorious.* It lays its eggs in the holes of trees, and. 

 except in the breeding season, is more or less gregarious in 

 its habits. 



THE ROLLER. 



CORACIAS GARRULA. 



Head, neck, and under parts tinged with various shades of light blue, varied 

 with green ; back and scapulars reddish brown ; tail blue, green, and black. 

 Length twelve inches and a half. Eggs smooth shining white. 



ABOUT twenty specimens in all of this bird have been 

 observed in England, the one of most recent occurrence 

 being, I believe, one which was shot close to my garden, 

 on the 20th of September, 1852. The winter home of the 

 Roller is Africa, and it is said to be particularly abundant 

 in Algeria. About the middle of April it crosses the 

 Mediterranean, and seems to prefer the north of Europe 

 to the south as a summer residence, being more abundant 

 in Germany and the south of Russia than in France, 

 though many proceed no further than Sicily and Greece. 

 Its food consists mainly of caterpillars and other insects. 

 The name Roller, being derived directly from the French 

 Rollier, should be pronounced so as to rhyme with 

 "dollar." 



* The Latin nvx, and Greek icdpvov, from which the systematic 

 names of the bird are derived, point also to the walnut. 



