212 MEROPID^E. 



small feet, have also considerable width of gape, and feed 

 more or less upon the wing. The British species included 

 in this division are the Roller, the Bee-eater, the King- 

 fisher, the Swallow, the three Martins, the two Swifts, and 

 the Nightjar ; among which it will be perceived, from their 

 well-known powers, that those last named have the cha- 

 racters pertaining to this division most strongly marked. 

 The Roller has by several systematic authors been ar- 

 ranged near the Crows ; but its colours, its habits, and 

 other peculiarities, seem to prove that it is more truly 

 allied to the Bee-eaters, Meropida, and the Kingfishers, 

 Halcyonida. 



The Roller is a native of Africa, from the northern parts 

 of which many of them pass to Europe in the spring, re- 

 turning in autumn, and are accordingly abundant at Malta, 

 and other islands in the Mediterranean, which are resting- 

 places on the passage. Shaw, in his History of Barbary, 

 says, " This bird makes a squalling noise, and builds in the 

 banks of the Sheliff, Booberak, and other rivers." M. 

 Vieillot mentions that where trees are scarce, as in Malta, 

 these birds are said to make their nest in the ground ; 

 and Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology, confirms this habit, 

 from other authorities, by remarking that in places where 

 trees are wanting, the Roller forms its nest in clayey banks. 

 This mode of nesting and depositing its eggs is precisely 

 similar to the habits of the Bee-eater and the King-fisher, 

 hereafter to be described, and the eggs of each of these 

 three birds are exactly alike in colour and shape, and only 

 differ in size in relation to the proportions of the parent birds. 



In Malta, at certain seasons, Rollers are caught in such 

 numbers that they are exposed in the market for sale with 

 Hoopoes, Bee-eaters, and others. The Maltese are very 

 expert in taking these birds alive. On the European con- 



