191 



ROLLER. 



COEACIAS GARKTJLA, Lin. 



The Roller is said to occur in various parts of 

 Asia, having been taken at Aleppo, and in North 

 Africa, where it occurs from Morocco to Egypt. It 

 extends as far northward as Denmark and Sweden, 

 is rather rare in France, and is said never to have 

 been found in Holland. Although very rare in Bri- 

 tain, it has been'several times obtained in England, 

 as well as in Scotland and its islands, one having 

 been killed in Orkney, and another in Shetland. 

 Being naturally a wild, solitary bird, deep forests 

 of oak and birch appear to be its favourite haunts. 

 It generally makes its nest in the hollows of trees, 

 but where these are scarce, on the ground, or in 

 the sandy banks of rivers. It lays from four to 

 seven lustrous white eggs, similar in shape to 

 those of the Bee-eaters. The food in which it 

 chiefly delights consists, besides berries, of crickets, 

 cockchafers, grasshoppers, millipedes, and other 

 insects. There seems reason to believe that in 

 former days, when England, less cultivated, was 

 covered more extensively with pathless woods, the 

 Roller was frequently seen in the ancient forests. 

 It probably built its nest then in the hollows of 

 trees, as it does in the German forests at the pre- 

 sent day. 



