The Roller. 37 



also occurred accidentally on the Faeroes and in ilio extreme north of Norway. It 

 is a .summer visitor to Algeria, but is only known during winter in Egypt. To 

 Palestine and Asia Minor, Persia, Turkestan, Afghanistan, Ca-shnierc, and the 

 Punjab it is a summer visitor. It breeds in South-west Siberia as far north as 

 Omsk and as far east as the Altai Mountains. It winters in Arabia, the valley of 

 the Upper Nile, and throughout South Africa." (Hist. Britisli Birds, vol. ii. 

 P- 327)- 



Although a mere straggler to our islands, this beautiful species has occurred 

 more than a hundred times with us, mostly during the autumn migration, and on 

 the southern and eastern coasts of England and Scotland, including, however, the 

 Orkneys, Shetlands, and even St. Kilda. About half a dozen examples have been 

 obtained in Ireland. 



The Roller has the upper parts mostly gloss}- greenish blue, the mantle 

 chestnut ; upper wing-coverts deep blue, greater wing-coverts and base of primaries 

 pale blue ; quills black, innermost secondaries chestnut ; tail mostly deep blue, 

 paler at the tip ; under parts mostly pale blue, chin white, wings below deep 

 purplish-blue : bill blackish ; feet yellowish-brown ; iris dark chestnut. The female 

 resembles the male in plumage : young birds are altogether duller and brovTier 

 in colour. 



Dixon (Jottings, p. 44) says of this bird :— " I met Anth it very abundantly in 

 the evergreen oak woods and the cedar forests of the Djebel Aures, but did not 

 see a trace of it in the oases south of the Atlas." Seebohm quotes the following 

 notes on the habits of the Roller, as obser\^ed in Algeria, from the pen of the 

 same author: — "The Roller has maujr singular traits. Its flight is varied and 

 full of strange manoeuvres ; its voice is most discordant. It is excessive!}- fond of 

 perching on the topmost branches of the trees, always preferring a dead limb if 

 it can find one, where its show}^ dress can be seen for half a mile or more. It 

 cannot be called a shy bird, although it is a war}- one, and usuallv takes -w-ing 

 before you get within range of a safe shot. I have often seen this bird soar to 

 a great height, and then drop perpendicularly down, something like the ' shooting " 

 of the Rook, to a perch directh' below it. Sometimes it turns over in the air 

 like a Tumbler Pigeon ; and in the pairing-season two birds often chase each other 

 and gambol in the air. The Roller is often seen on the ground in search of its 

 food, which in these regions is largely composed of beetles, locusts, grasshoppers, 

 and any garbage it may find ; for it is no more particular in its diet than a Crow 

 or a Jay, Avhich latter bird it resembles ver\- closeh' in its habits. The flight of 

 the Roller is very unsteady ; but I cannot help thinking that the peculiar pattern 

 of the birds' brilliant plumage gives its flight the appearance of being more 



Vol. Ill G 



