430 THE ROLLER 



the extraordinary flight, from which he derives his name of "roller." 

 In fine weather he rises in the air with loud and harsh " rack, rackkack," 

 etc., to a fair height, and proceeds to " tumble " or turn somersaults in 

 his flight, after which he darts down with a harsh chatter which Nau- 

 mann writes as "raeh, raeraeh, rraeh, rrae" etc., returning at length to 

 his perch. 1 The ordinary flight of the roller is rapid and powerful, 

 and has been compared by some writers to that of the pigeon : the 

 firm, decided flaps are often varied by an occasional tumble and 

 glide, but now and then a bird may be seen at a good height, winging 

 its way steadily to some distant point, and calling harshly at frequent 

 intervals. He does not hop from one bough to another, but flies, 

 while on the ground he never seems quite at home when in motion, 

 but hops somewhat slowly, although wonderfully quick at seizing 

 his prey. 



The nesting-place varies according to locality : in well-wooded 

 districts, such as Northern Europe, it is generally in a hole of some old 

 tree, rarely less than six feet or so from the ground, but many pairs 

 breed in holes of old and ruinous buildings in North Africa and 

 Eastern Europe : holes in mud cliffs and banks of streams are used by 

 thousands of birds in the Balkan Peninsula and other southern dis- 

 tricts, and in Spain I have seen nests in quarries and among rocks. 

 Kriiper found that in Asia Minor some pairs bred in old magpies' nests 

 in which the roof was still standing, while the late Herr Hocke main- 

 tained that he had taken the eggs from a wood-pigeon's nest in 

 Germany. 2 In Bulgaria, Herr O. Reiser discovered a colony of about 

 seventy pairs breeding in company with red-footed falcons, in an old 

 piece of oak forest. In such situations there is naturally no 

 difficulty in finding nests, but where isolated pairs are nesting, con- 

 siderable caution is shown by both sexes, though, of course, the 

 presence of the male his restless movements and tumbling flight 



1 Naumann describes the call-note as a high, ringing " kraeh," not unlike the cry of the 

 young jackdaw, and when rapidly repeated the " rack-rack " sounds more like " ckraL~ra-kra- 

 !<ra " according to von Lowis (Naturgeachichte d. Vogel Mitteleuropas, iv. 360). 



1 The nesting-boxes now used in some of the German forests are also occupied at times, as 

 are also old holes of the great black-woodpecker, where the entrance has been enlarged. 



