ioz THE BIRDS OF THE WOODS 



magpie. The blue roller is very quarrelsome with birds of its own kind, fighting 

 with and biting them, and, while fighting, falling to the ground ; yet several couples 

 will nest not far from each other, and, though not gregarious, an instance is 



THE HOOPOE. 



recorded in which a whole colony nested in holes they had themselves made in 

 a bank. The nest is usually in a hollow tree, at a man's height from the ground, 

 and often much higher ; but in countries poorly timbered, such as Greece, the eggs 

 are laid in the deserted nests of magpies, or in holes in walls or on roofs. 



In central Europe the roller starts for the south in August, to reappear 



