CORACIAS. 99 



basal, lateral, oblique, linear, partially concealed by the 

 feathers. Eyes of moderate size, with a bare triangular 

 space behind. Feet very short ; tarsus with seven very 

 broad scutella : hind toe rather small, second shorter than 

 the third, anterior toes free ; claws of moderate length, 

 arched, much compressed, slender, acute. Plumage rather 

 full, blended ; several strong decurved bristles on each side 

 of the mouth ; wings of moderate length, very broad ; the 

 second and third quills longest ; tail rather long, of twelve 

 broad feathers, generally even, but sometimes with the outer 

 feathers longer. 



The Rollers are peculiar to the Old Continent and its 

 islands, species occurring in the warmer parts of Asia, and 

 in Africa, and one of them extending into Europe. 



46. CORACIAS GARRULA. GARRULOUS ROLLER. 



Head, neck, and lower parts light bluish-green ; back and 

 scapulars light brown; smaller wing-coverts light blue; 

 quills light greenish-blue at the base, deep bluish-black in 

 the rest of their extent ; tail greenish-blue, the outer feathers 

 tipped with black, and about a quarter of an inch longer than 

 the rest. Young dull brown above, greyish-green beneath. 



Male, 13, .., 7 T V, 1 T \, 1, 1, ^ 



The Roller is said to occur in various parts of Asia and 

 Africa, and to extend even as far northward as Denmark and 

 Sweden. Although very rare in Britain, it has been several 

 times obtained in England and Scotland, one having been 

 killed even in Orkney, and another in Shetland. It is said 

 to nestle in hollow trees, or in holes on the banks of rivers, 

 and to lay four or five eggs of a broadly elliptical form, 

 smooth, and of a glossy white. 



Common Roller. 



Coracias garrula, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 159. Coracias gar- 

 rula, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. i. 127. Coracias garrula, Gar- 

 rulous Roller, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iii. 540. 



The birds described above may be considered as belong- 

 ing to a group characterized by their inaptitude for walking, 

 and which might therefore be viewed as AERIAL, compared 

 with those which follow, and which, being equally well 

 adapted for walking and flying, might be designated as 



