1S90.J CORACIID.E OF THE INDIAN REGION. 547 



Anglo-Indians, and tho Broad-billed Blue Roller, a much less 

 familiar species. 



Key to the Genera. 



a. Bill long and slender, compressed, much longer than 



it is broad Coracias, p. 547. 



b. Bill stout and depressed, as well as slightly hooked, as 



broad at gape as it is high Eurystomus, p. 550. 



On comparing the skulls of Coracias and Eurystomus the differ- 

 ences above noted will be found to be emphasized, the skull being 

 everywhere broader and more massive, and especially remarkable 

 for its very broad palatine bones. Tho nasal aperture is apparently 

 linear in Coracias, and triangular in Eurystonms. 



As with other Picarian birds, the Hollers nest in holes of trees or 

 buildings and lay white eggs. They get their name of " Holler" 

 from their peculiar flight ; but the broad-billed Eurystomi are more 

 forest-loving, and by no means such birds of the open as the 

 species of Coracias. 



Genus Coracias, Linnaeus, 1766. 



Three species of Coracias occur in the Indian Eegion, all of them 

 well represented in Mr. Hume's collection. There appears to be 

 very little doubt that C. indica and C. affinis interbreed on the 

 confines of their respective ranges, and this is probably one of the 

 few absolutely indisputable instances of hybridization between birds 

 taking place in a state of nature. Dr. Jerdou and Mr. Blyth also 

 speak of the crossing of C. indica with C. garrula in the extreme 

 North-west, but I have not seen any instance of this phenomenon 

 exhibited in the Hume series. 



Key to the Species. 



a. With a subterminal band of silvery blue on the quills. 



a'. Tail with a broad terminal band of ]>urplish blue ; upper 



tail-coverts purplish blue, darker than the rump iVj(?jr«, p. 547. 



h'. Tail with no terminal band, though occasionally a blackish 

 spot at the end of the feathers is present ; upper tail- 

 coverts light silvery blue, paler than the rump affinis,-p. 548. 



b. With no subterminal blue band on the quills, the basal part 



only being light ; primary-coverts silvery blue ; back light 



bay garrula, '^.bAQ. 



1. CoEACiAS INDICA. The Indian Roller. 



Coracias indica, Linn. Syst. Nat, i. p. 157 ; Blytb, Cat. p. 51 ; 

 Horsf. & Moore, Cat. ii. p. 571 ; Jerd. B. I. i. p. 214 ; Gould, B. 

 Asia, i. pi. 54; Hume, Cat. no. 123; Legge, B. Ceyl. p. 281. 



Coloration. Base of forehead and lores sandy white ; head greenish 

 blue, with a wash of bright blue over the eye ; round the hind 

 neck a collar of lilac-rufous ; back drab, washed with oily green ; 

 lower back and rump bright blue ; upper tail-coverts purplish blue ; 

 wing-coverts greenish blue, as weU as the base of the quills ; lesser 

 coverts purplish blue ; remainder of quills purplish blue, the pri- 

 maries with a subterminal band of bright blue ; inner secondaries 



