70 BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 



band of pale blue near the tip ; the outer webs of the later primaries and 

 all the secondaries the same light blue for about an inch below the coverts ; 

 primary- co verts light blue. 



Bill dark brownish black ; mouth yellow ; edges of the eyelids, lores 

 and skin at the back of the eye yellowish orange; iris brown; legs 

 yellowish brown ; claws black. 



Length 13 inches, tail 5 '2, wing 7*4, tarsus 1*1, bill from gape I 1 9. 

 The female is of about the same size. 



The Burmese Roller, or Blue Jay as it is usually turmed by residents 

 in Burmah, occurs commonly over the whole Province except in the 

 extreme south of Tenasserim, where Mr. Davisen did not observe it. 



It is found in Siam, and Dr. Tiraud states that it is very common in 

 Cochin China. It extends through the Indo-Burmese countries up to 

 Assam and westerly through Eastern Bengal as far as Calcutta. In India 

 it is replaced by C. indicus ; and the two appear to interbreed in the 

 territory where they meet. 



This Roller is a very familiar and well-known bird, and is found in 

 almost every portion of the Province except in the interior of the larger 

 forests. It prefers compounds, gardens and places where the trees are not 

 very thickly placed. Perched usually on a dead branch it likes to have a 

 good view all round, in order the more easily to detect the larger insects, 

 which it catches by gliding to the ground. After killing and eating its 

 prey, it returns to the same or a similar perch. 



This bird breeds in March and April, laying four or five glossy white 

 eggs in a natural hollow in a tree at various heights from the ground. 



Genus EUEYSTOMUS, Vieill. 



461. EURYSTOMUS ORIENTALIS. 



THE BROAD-BILLED ROLLER. 



Coracias orientalis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 159. Eurystomus orientalis, Jerd. 

 It. Ind. i. p. 219 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, p. 105 ; id. S. F. ii. p. 164 Salvad. 

 U$c. Born. p. 105 ; BL B. Burm. p. 72 ; David et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 73 ; Wardlaw 

 Rqmsay, Ibis, 1877, p. 457 ; Hume fy Dav. S. F. yi. p. 72 ; Legge, Birds Ceylon, 

 p. 285 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 85 ; Bingham, S. F. ix. p. 153 ; Kelham, Ibis, 1881, 

 p. 379 ; Gates, 8. F. x. p. 186. 



Description. Male and female. Forehead, crown and nape dark brown 

 with a tinge of greenish, blue ; from the nape the greenish blue tinge 

 becoming .more decided on the back, scapulars, tertiaries, the wing-coverts, 



