THE BIRDS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 415 
above Nasiriyeh we have no records, and above Kurna only records of probable 
migrants. At Baghdad however it occurs again and is probably resident there 
in small numbers, as Cheesman noted it there in April, Pitman in July to Septem- 
ber, and Buxton in October. On the Diala R. at Bakubah however it again is 
common and a few occur at Shahroban. It occurs at Shush and on the Karun 
river and breeds there. It is absent from the Tekrit-Samarra district. The 
distribution is no doubt to some extent influenced by date groves. 
It breeds at the end of April and beginning of May. Hobkirk found nests in 
holes ina bank on May 19th and 21st containing 5 and 4 eggs respectively, 
Armstrong found a nest at Fao on May 4th. 
Five specimens examined: 9, Kurna, 17-5-18 (P. A. B.); Akkarkuf, 20-8-17 
(C. R. P.); 2, Baghdad, 16-3-19 (P. Z. C. and R. E. C.); Kurna, 17-3-18 (?); 
&, Basra, 21-11-17 (C. B. T.). All are typical. 
150. Common Roller, Coracias garrula. “Khundar.’’ 
1. Coracias garrula semenowi, Loud. and Tsch. (Orn. Jahrb. xiii, 
p- 148, 1902—Transcaspia). 
2. Coracias garrula garrula, L. (Syst. Nat. Ed. x, p. 107, 1758— 
S. Sweden). 
A common summer visitor whose numbers are increased at the times of migra- 
tion by passage migrants through the country. 
The first few appear in the first week of April but the general date of arrival 
is about the third week of the month, while many pass through in May, as Cum- 
ming records at Fao. Pitman noted small flocks at Feluja from April 4th to 30th, 
6 to 12 in a flock migrating over going west or north-west and a similar migration 
was recorded at Basra at the end of the month. 
It breeds commonly throughout our area, where conditions are suitable, from 
‘Mosul to Ahwaz ; but a few breed at Basra and none, probably due to lack of 
suitable sites, at Fao. 
Cliffs of river banks are favourite sites and there are colonies on all the Mesopo.. 
tamian rivers, the ruins of Babylon and the mounds of Shush are full of their 
nesting holes and occasionally holes in date palms are utilized as at Baghdad 
and Museyib. Pitman, who examined a large colony in the river bank at Feluja, 
found the nests in weather-worn holes and clefts 10 to 40 feet up and frequently 
near the top ; the entrance holes were large and the eggs were deposited on soft 
sandy soil not more than a foot in. 
The excavation of holes begins at the end of April and fresh clutches are genera] 
by mid-May. Pitman, who examined two dozen nests on May 25th, found them 
to contain 3 to 7 eggs in various stages of incubation and one lot had hatched. 
In the middle of this colony a Kestrel also had its nest. 
Some evidently move down from the hills to the plains as early as the end of 
July ; the numbers decrease at the end of August and early September, in which 
month most depart ; the last record is October 2nd. Cumming says they pass 
Fao on passage in September and October, they are few in number and only halt 
a short time. 
(1) Seven specimens examined: 9, Shustar, 3-5-17 (P. Z. C. and R. E. C.); 
Q, Shahroban, 30-7-18 ; ¢ 9, Amara, 2-5-18 (P. A. B.); Baghdad, 7-17; Hinde- 
yeh Barrage, 2-7-17 ; Akkarkuf, 29-8-17 (C. R. P.). 
(2) Mesopotamia, 23-4-17. 
All belong to the eastern form semenowi except one which I cannot separate 
from the typical race ; Zarudny records semenowi as a passage migrant and the 
typical race as rare ; Weigold and Neuman record the latter race from Urfa and 
Ras-el-Ain. Our breeding race is certainly semenowi ; the typical race is pre- 
sumably a passage migrant. 
Semenowi? in the adult spring plumage is rather indistinct; perhaps on the whole 
it is a trifle paler brown above and paler blue on the underparts and wing coverts. 
