THE ROLLER 



[ORDER: Coraciiformes. FAMILY: Coraciidce] 

 PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



[F. C. B. JOTTRDAIN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] 



ROLLER [Coracias gdrrvlus Linnaeus. French, rollier ; German, M andelkrdhe, 

 Blauracke ; Italian, ghiandaia marina]. 



i. Description. This bird is easily identified, the back being of a chestnut- 

 brown colour, the rest of the plumage blue. The feet are syndactyle. The sexes 

 are alike. (PI. 85.) Length, 12 in. [304*79 mm.]. In the male the scapulars 

 and inter-scapulars and inner secondaries are of a tawny chestnut; the head, 

 neck, and under parts are of a pale cobalt blue; the lower back and rump 

 purplish blue ; the greater wing-coverts are greenish blue, the marginal coverts 

 purplish blue. The primaries have the outer webs greenish blue, those of the 

 secondaries purple. The central tail-feathers are of an oil-green colour, the rest 

 greenish blue on the outer, black on the inner web. The lores are black, the forepart 

 of the cheeks and throat dull white, and there is an indistinct superciliary band 

 of dull white. The feet are dark yellow, and the iris is dark brown. The juvenile 

 plumage resembles that of the adult but is duller, the head and neck being of an 

 oily green colour, [w. P. P.] 



a. Distribution. The roller has never been known to breed in the British 

 Isles, but is a tolerably frequent visitor on migration, chiefly in the autumn. On 

 the Continent its breeding range extends to about lat. 61 N. in Sweden, while in 

 Russia it becomes scarce in the St. Petersburg government, and rare in Finland, 

 although it has occurred in the Olonetz and Perm governments (lat. 59). Farther 

 south it becomes more numerous, but is scarce in Denmark, France (except in the 

 south), and the Low Countries, though plentiful in the Mediterranean countries, 

 especially in the Iberian Peninsula. In the Mediterranean it is common in Sicily 



