CORACIAS 49 



A young male in the South African Museum is somewhat paler 

 in colour throughout, and is without the elongated tips to the outer 

 tail-feathers. 



Distribution. This Eoller is not found south of the Orange 

 River, nor has it yet been observed in the Orange River Colony ; 

 north of these limits and from Natal it is fairly abundant throughout 

 South Africa extending to Angola on the west, and to the Victoria 

 Nyanza and Mombasa on the east. The following are recorded 

 South African localities : Cape Colony Kuruman (Moffatt), 

 Linokana, near Maf eking (Holub) ; Natal Durban (Brit. Mus.), 

 near Maritzburg (Maritzburg Museum) ; Ifafa, Ulundi in Zululand 

 (Woodward) ; Transvaal Lydenburg (S. A. Mus.), Zoutspansberg 

 (W. Ayres), Pretoria (Buckley), Rustenburg and Marico (Barratt) ; 

 Bechuanaland Palapye (Ayres), Lake Ngami (Andersson) ; 

 Rhodesia Tati (Holub), Wankies and Victoria Falls (Oates) 

 Umfuli River (Ayres) ; Damaraland Otjimbinque (Andersson) 

 Portuguese east Africa Tete (Kirk). 



Habits. This bird seems to have attracted a good deal of atten- 

 tion on account of its bright plumage, bold ways and abundance in 

 certain parts of the country ; it is found singly or in pairs, and is 

 generally seen perched on the topmost branch of a high tree, whence 

 it^keeps a good look out for insects, which form the bulk of its food. 

 It is shy and wary and is thus very difficult to shoot ; it is also 

 bold and pugnacious, driving off other large birds such as hawks 

 and crows should they venture near its chosen resting place. 

 When disturbed it gives vent to harsh and loud discordant screams 

 as it makes off with circling flight. Its food consists of large insects 

 such as grasshoppers and beetles, which it usually catches and 

 devours on the ground ; it will also follow bush-fires to catch the 

 insects as they are flushed by the heat of the burning. Oates found 

 in the stomach of an individual killed by him, a snake one foot 

 long, and in another a lizard, so they do not entirely confine their 

 attentions to the insect world. Mr. Marshall thus describes the 

 breeding habits of this Roller : " During the breeding season it 

 (apparently the male) will mount to a considerable height with its 

 curious rolling flight, rising in stages and screaming all the while, 

 then suddenly turning over and diving straight down. I took a 

 nest of this species at the Umfuli on October 24, 1895. It was in 

 a hole in a tree, about twenty feet from the ground and contained 

 three white eggs, moderately incubated ; two of these were nearly 



4 VOL. in. 



