THE WORLD'S BIRDS. 145 



COURTSHIP. The male towers up in the air and swoops 

 down. 



NEST. A hole in a tree, bank, or building, sometimes 

 roughly lined, sometimes not. 



FOOD. Almost exclusively animal, consisting of insects 

 and any small vertebrates they can swallow whole, 

 for they do not use their feet in holding food. 

 They usually watch for food from a fixed perch, 

 and dart down on it. They cast up pellets. 



GAIT. The long- winged forms seldom move on the 

 ground, and do so by hops ; the short-winged 

 Ground Rollers run about actively. 



FLIGHT. The ordinary long-winged Rollers fly strongly, 

 with an easy flapping flight, sometimes tumbling 

 over, or playing other antics on the wing. The 

 flight of the short-winged kinds is weak. 



NOTE. Loud and harsh, a croak or cackle. They are 

 rather noisy birds. 



DISPOSITION AND HABITS. They are sluggish and un- 

 sociable ; vicious and not very intelligent. They 

 usually sit with the throat feathers puffed out, 

 and often jerk the tail. 



ECONOMIC QUALITIES. Besides their very ornamental 

 appearance, they are recommended by their great 

 usefulness as vermin-destroyers. 



CAPTIVITY. They will live well in an aviary, and one 

 species, the Common European Roller (Coracias 

 garrula), has bred under such conditions. 



DISTRIBUTION AND IMPORTANT SPECIES. The family, 

 including about three dozen species, falls into two 

 types : the ordinary long-winged, short-legged 

 Rollers (Coraciina), found all over the warmer parts 

 of the Old World; of these the Common Roller 

 (C. garrulus) sometimes visits England, and the 

 Indian Roller (C. indicus) is well known in India 

 as the " Blue- jay " ; the short-winged, long-legged 

 Ground Rollers (Brachypteraciincz) are confined 



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