CORACIAS 463 



HoLlier vulyaire, French ; Hollieiro, Portug. ; Carlanco, Car- 

 ranco, Span. ; Ghiandaja marina, Ital. ; Blauracke, Mandelkrdhc, 

 Oerm. ; Rackc, Dutch ; Sllekrage, Dan. ; Blacdcraake, Norw. ; 

 Bldkrdka, Swed. ; Sinintirhi, Finn. ; Civovoronka, Russ. ; Chal- 

 koroni, Greek ; Alla-Karga, Turk. ; Sharrakak, Moor. ; Shugurug, 

 Arab. ; Sulz-Kullag, Pers. ; Nila-Kras, Kashm. ; Shecn-Tootec, 

 Pushtoo. 



ad. (Spain). Head, hind-neck, and under parts pale blue tinged 

 with green, darker on the head and throat, paler on the abdomen ; fore- 

 head and chin hoary white ; back, scapulars, and inner secondaries cinnamon 

 brown ; least wing-coverts, rump, and upper tail-coverts rich ultramarine ; 

 quills blackish, but light blue at the base ; outer primaries externally 

 glossed with deep blue ; middle tail-feathers dull greenish blue, the rest 

 dull blue, lighter towards the end ; the outermost blackish at the tip ; throat 

 striped with silvery blue ; bill black ; legs yellowish brown ; iris brownish 

 grey. Culmen 1'3, wing 7 '7, tail 5*0, tarsus 0'95 inch. Sexes alike, but 

 the young are duller and browner. 



Hob. Europe generally to 60 N. Lat. ; accidental in England 

 and Scotland ; Africa in winter, south to the Cape Colony ; 

 Asia east to Western Siberia and Central Asia ; India in Sincl 

 and the Punjab, and east to Khandesh, Ahmedabad, the 

 Satpura Hills, Mussooree, and Garhwal. 



Frequents woods and bush-covered plains, and is restless and 

 uneasy. Its flight is quick and easy, and it has a habit of 

 turning over or rolling on the wing like some Pigeons. Its 

 note is a deep, harsh, racker-racker-r acker, and a plaintive high 

 krah. Its food consists of various kinds of insects, worms, and 

 small frogs, and it is also said to eat figs. It breeds in hollow 

 trees, holes in walls, or even in holes in river banks, construct- 

 ing a nest of roots and straws lined with hair or feathers, and 

 in April, May, or June, according to latitude it deposits 4 

 to 5 pure white glossy, roundish eggs which average about 

 142 by 1-12. 



(364. INDIAN ROLLER. 

 CORACIAS INDICUS, 



Gomclas indicus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 159 (1766) ; Gould, B. of As. i. 

 pi. 54 ; Dresser, v. p. 149, pi. 294 ; id. Monogr. Corac. p. 27, 

 pi. viii. ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mas. xvii. p. 10 ; Blanf. F. Brit. Ind. 

 Birds, iii. p. 103 ; C. bengalensis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 159 (1766). 



Nilkant, sdbzak, Hindu. ; Tas, Mahr. ; Pdlti-pitta, Tel. ; Kattu- 

 kadei, Tarn. ; Doong-kowhitva, Cingal. 



