S(J4 NATURAL HISTORY. 



(Jericho) alone, and remained there in solitude for sevei-al days, during which I had many opportunities 

 of observing the grotesque habits of the Roller. For several successive evenings, great flocks of 

 Rollers mustered shortly before sunset on some dom trees near the fountain, with all the noise but 

 without the decorum of the Rooks. After a volley of discordant screams, from the sound of which it 

 derives its Arabic trivial name of ' Sclxurkrak,' a few birds would start from their perch, and 

 commence a series of somersaults overhead, somewhat after the fashion of Tumbler Pigeons. In 

 a moment or two they would be followed by the whole flock, and these gambols would be repeated 

 for a dozen times or more. Everywhere it takes its perch on some conspicuous branch or on the top 

 of a rock, where it can see and be seen. The bare tops of the fig-trees, before they put forth their 

 leaves, are, in the cultivated terraces, a particularly favourite resort. In the barren Ghor I have 

 often watched it perched unconcernedly on a knot of gravel or marl in the plain, watching apparently 

 for the emergence of beetles from the sand. Elsewhere I have not seen it settle 011 the ground- 

 Like Europeans in the East, it can make itself happy without chairs and tables in the desert, but 

 prefers a comfortable easy-chair when it is to be found. Its nest I have seen in ruins, in holes 

 in rocks, in burrows, in steep sand-cliffs, but far more generally in hollow trees. The colony in the 

 Wady Kelt used burrows excavated by themselves ; and many a hole did they relinquish, owing to 

 the difficulty of working it. But so cunningly were the nests placed under a crumbling treacherous 

 ledge, overhanging a chasm of perhaps one or two hundred feet, that we vvere completely foiled in our 

 siege. We obtained a nest of six eggs, quite fresh, in a hollow tree in Bashan, near Gadara, on the 

 6th of May. It is noticed by Russell among the birds of Aleppo." The colour of the Common Roller 

 is very beautiful, and we can well understand the significance of the Turkish name " Alia Carga," or 

 Beautiful Crow. The back is pale cinnamon-brown ; the wing-coverts pale blue, excepting those on 

 the edge of the wing, which are rich ultramarine ; the quills brownish-black, deep ultramarine 

 underneath; the secondaries with more blue on the outer web; the forehead white; the crown of 

 the head and back of the neck pale blue; the lower back and rump ultramarine; the upper tail- 

 coverts greenish-blue ; the tail blackish-brown, the feathers blue a,t the base, the two centre feathers 

 dull green ; cheeks and throat pale blue, streaked with silvery blue ; the under surface of the body 

 pale greenish-blue. The total length is twelve inches. One curious feature about the European 

 bird is that the outer tail-feather tends towards a point at the tip, as if there was an inclination to 

 become elongated ; and in Africa there is a species which actually differs from the European Roller 

 only in having the outer tail-feathers elongated to an extent of several inches. 



In Madagascar, that wonderful island which produces so many peculiar forms of bird life, there 

 are found the Ground Rollers (Atelornis], extraordinary birds which live entirely on the ground, and 

 only come out at dusk. Their flight is said by M. Grandidier to be very weak, so that the birds 

 are never found above the lowest branches. They are rather local in their habitat, but where they do 

 occur seem not to be uncommon. The Cyrombo Roller (Leptosoma discolor") is also a native of 

 Madagascar, and has at first sight much the appearance of a Cuckoo, of which family of birds 

 it was for many years considered to be a member. The head is extremely large in this bird, and the 

 region of the nostrils densely plumed ; but the latter, instead of being placed near the base of the 

 bill, as in most Rollers, are situated nearly in the middle of the upper mandible. Messrs. Pollen and 

 Van Dam give an interesting account of this bird in their notes on the " Birds of Madagascar " : " The 

 natives of the north-west of Madagascar give this bird the name of Cyrombo. It has the curious 

 habit of hovering in the air, and uttering a very loud note, striking its wings against its body as it 

 calls. This cry, resembling the syllables tu-hou, tu-hou, tu-hou, goes on increasing in force. Nowhere 

 have we found this bird in greater numbers than in the forests in the neighbourhood of the bays of 

 Boeny and Jongony, in the south-western portion of the island of Mayotte. The racket that they 

 make during the whole journey is truly wearisome. Although very active as criers, these birds are 

 lazy and stupid. As soon as they are perched on the branch of a tree, they remain, so to speak, 

 immovable, and in perpendicular position, so that it is easy to see them and knock them over. When 

 seen in this position, they look like birds impaled. We suppose that they live in polyandry, because 

 one always sees three times as many males as females ; often we have seen three males in company 

 with one single female, and all allowed themselves to be killed one after the other. In fact, when one 

 is killed, the others do not fly away, but content themselves with merely moving from one branch to 



