282 Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton on the 
natives, they will not infrequently kill and eat small birds 
and mice, and in trapping for a Roller the men are in 
the habit of baiting with a mouse tied by the leg and 
surrounded by limed twigs. 
101. Coracias MosamBicus. Purple Roller. 
Commoner than the preceding species, and not unfre- 
quently to be seen in the open woods perched on a small 
tree or dead branch, whence it makes short sallies—often 
to the ground—after its prey. It is by no means particular 
as to its food: I found the stomach of one individual 
crammed with evil-smelling locusts of a kind which is 
rejected by all self-respecting birds, and a Purple Roller, 
which lived for some months in my aviary, would greedily 
devour these and other distasteful insects. This bird, 
already old when caught, became so tame within a fort- 
night of its bemg placed in the aviary, that it would fly to 
my hand for grasshoppers whenever I entered, sometimes 
uttering a short harsh cry when disappointed or made to 
await its turn. The grasshoppers, if of a fair size, it would 
usually toss into the air, catching them again, perhaps three 
or four times, in order to get them into correct position— 
head first—to be swallowed, and anything really large, 
though swallowed whole in the end, it would first batter and 
bruise against my hand or the perch. As its crop filled, 
the Roller would become slower and more meditative, until 
at last, with the wings and legs of the last locust still 
protruding, it would seize another and hold it in its mouth 
for as many as five or ten minutes together, anxiously 
waiting to swallow it. It ate two small Warblers which were 
placed in the aviary, but, in all probability, these were first 
slain by my Touraco, for the Roller’s attitude towards its 
fellow-prisoners was never aggressive. 
102. Eurystomus arerR. Cinnamon Roller. 
I have not met with this Roller very frequently on the 
highlands, but found it extremely plentiful singly or in pairs 
throughout the open bush of the valley of the Lower Um- 
swirezi in November, as well as in the large trees bordering 
