74 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



Mr. Seebohm as " wrack, wrack," something like the sound 

 made by a ratchet-drill. In Spain, according to Mr. Howard 

 Saunders, the note is rendered by the words " Carlanco, 

 Carlanco." 



The Roller is a late breeder, and never commences to lay 

 before May, often not until the end of that month in some 

 countries. 



Nest. Very slight, or none at all. The bird selects a con- 

 venient hole in a tree, a building, or even in a bank, and 

 though not a gregarious bird at the nesting-time, it has been 

 found in Palestine, by Canon Tristram, nesting in holes in a 

 bank, excavated by the birds themselves. The nest is a slight 

 structure of twigs or grass with hair or feathers, but when the 

 hole of a tree is selected, or a deserted Woodpecker's hole 

 used as a nesting-place, the eggs are deposited on chips ot 

 wood, without any attempt at a nest. 



Eggs. From four to six in number, rounded in shape, and 

 glossy white. They measure: axis, 1*5 inch; diam., i'i5 

 inch. 



II. THE ABYSSINIAN ROLLER. CORACIAS ABYSSINICUS. 



Coracias abyssinicus, Bodd. Tabl. PI. Enl. p. 38(1783); See- 

 bohm, Brit. B. ii. p. 331 (1884); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. 

 Mus. xvii. p. 19 (1892). 



Coracias leucocephalus, Saunders, Man. Brit. B. p. 272, note 

 (1889). 



Adult Male. Exactly like C. garrulus, but with the outer 

 tail-feather on each side produced to a great length; bill 

 black; feet greenish-yellow; iris brown. Total length, 18 

 inches; culmen, 1*05; wing, 6-7; tail, 5*4; outer tail-feather, 

 11-3; tarsus, 0-85. 



Range in Great Britain. Two specimens of this most unlikely 

 visitor to Great Britain are said to have been obtained in 

 Scotland. Mr. Small, the well-known taxidermist of Edin- 

 burgh, states that the male was shot near Glasgow about the 

 year 1857, and was preserved by him. A female bird was 

 shot, not long afterwards, about forty miles from the plac 



