CORACIID^E 



EURYSTOMUS 



53 



(Symonds); Transvaal Selati railway Lydenburg (S.A. Mus.), 

 Kustenburg (Ayres) ; Bechuanaland Kanye (Exton), Bamangwato 

 (Ayres), Lake regions (Andersson) ; Khodesia Tati (Holub), 

 Wankies (Gates), Umfuli river (Ayres), near Salisbury (Marshall) ; 

 German south-west Africa Otjimbinque and Ondonga (Andersson), 

 Omaruru (Eriksson); Portuguese east Africa Chicowa on the 

 Zambesi (Alexander). 



Habits. The Purple Eoller seems to resemble its congeners 

 in its habits but to be somewhat more lethargic and less noisy and 

 aggressive. Though widely distributed it nowhere seems to be very 

 common and is probably a partial migrant. It is generally seen 

 in pairs and is not very shy ; it has the habit of rising suddenly 

 up into the air, rocking to and fro and then descending in a similar 

 manner, somewhat like a kite falling after the string is cut. Like 

 other Boilers it has a harsh and grating voice, compared by 

 Andersson to the sound of a broad-bladed knife passing through 

 a tough piece of cork though of course in a louder key ; its food 

 consists of small snakes and lizards, centipedes, scorpions and 

 insects which are generally secured on the ground though often 

 watched for from an elevated position, in which habit it resembles 

 the ordinary butcher bird or fiscal. The breeding habits of the 

 Purple Boiler are described by Andersson; they commence operations 

 very early in Damaraland, selecting usually a hollow tree which has 

 been previously occupied by a Woodpecker. Andersson states that 

 he believes that the eggs are two in number and white in colour, and 

 that both parents assist in incubation, though he does not seem to 

 have personally made these observations. 



Ayres has stated that young birds are easily reared on raw 

 meat and insects, which they toss up in the air before swallowing, 

 but he found them very troublesome on account of their noisy 

 habits. 



Genus II. EURYSTOMUS. 



Type. 



Eurystomus, Vieill. Analyse, p. 37 (1816) E. orientalis. 



Bill short and broad, its width at the gape equal to the length 

 of the culmen ; terminal portion of the upper mandible hooked and 

 pointed ; no rictal bristles ; other characters as in Coracias. This 

 genus containing some ten species is spread over tropical Africa, 

 Madagascar and southern Asia, extending to Manchuria in one 



