350- Mr. H. E. Dresser on 



submedian nervure. Along the costa tliere are two streaks 

 of grey alternating with brown. 



The hind wing is darker, with the streaks and patches 

 grey. The hind margin has six brown spots, commencing 

 from the first subcostal nervule to the first median nervule. 

 Above this there is a submarginal border of grey. The yellow 

 band of the upperside is indicated by a lighter brown band, 

 having the outlines of pale yellow, the spot being the same in 

 colour. There is a streak of grey from the base of the wing 

 to the costal margin. 



Exp. 1-9 inch. 



Uab. Fantee {G. E. S.). 



XLII. — Notes on the Racquet-tailed Rollers. 

 By H. E. Dresser. 



Having been lately engaged in working out the synonymy 

 of the Rollers, I had occasion to examine all available speci- 

 mens of the Racquet-tailed Rollers, which are still extremely 

 rare in collections, there being, so far as I can ascertain, but 

 four specimens in Great Britain, viz. two in the British 

 Museum, one in Captain Shelley's collection (now purchased 

 by the British Museum authorities), and one in the collection 

 of Canon Tristram, which he has kindly lent to me for 

 examination. The three former of these have all been labelled 

 by Mr. Sharpe as being referable to Coracias spatulatuSj 

 Trimen ; but on receipt of the specimen from Canon Tristram 

 I at once saw that it was specifically distinct from the other 

 three. In order to work out the question I compared them 

 carefully with their nearest allies, Coracias ahyssinicus and 

 C. caudatns, and may point out that all the Racquet-tailed 

 Rollers differ from these in having the median wing-coverts 

 cinnamon and in having all the tail-feathers conspicuously 

 terminated witli black and blue, whereas in C. ahi/ssini'cus 

 and C. caudatus all the rectriccs but the central and two 

 lateral ones are pale blue throughout. The two adult birds 

 in the British Museum, one from the Umvuli River, East 

 Africa, and the other from Caconda, in "West Africa, have 

 the throat and breast blue, exactly as in Coracuis ahi/ssi'm'cus ; 

 whereas the third, from rantamcnka, East Africa, labelled as 

 young, has the throat and breast somewhat striped witii pale 

 blue, buff in general coloration on the sides, but otherwise 

 pale turquoise-blue. The specimen from Canon Tristram, 

 however, from Newala, East Africa, has the sides of the 



