142 



the breast pale brown glossed with greenish blue ; abdomen very pale blue ; under wing-coverts rich 

 pale blue ; bill black; feet reddish brown. Total length 12"5 inches, wing 7'9, tail 5 -4, tarsus 0" 7, 

 middle toe l - 0. 



The brightly plumaged Roller, although common in most parts of the European continent, has 

 but rarely occurred in Great Britain, though from its brilliant coloration it is a bird not likely 

 to be overlooked. Several instances, however, of its capture in England are on record, chiefly, 

 according to Yarrell, in the eastern and north-eastern counties. 



Our friend Mr. Gatcombe has kindly given us the following note of the capture of a Roller 

 in the south of England : — 



" In June 1865 I examined a flne male Roller killed in a hayfield at Spriddlestone Farm, 

 near Plymouth. It was accompanied by another bird of the same species, which was not 

 obtained. Its stomach contained the remains of beetles and long white skins of the larvee of 

 beetles or moths — I think, the former. It was rather bold, and came down very near the hay- 

 makers whilst at work, which induced a farmer's boy to get a gun and shoot it. The specimen 

 is now in the collection of Mr. F. C. Hingston, of Plymouth." 



Specimens, however, have been obtained as high north as the Orkneys, whence Sir William 

 Jardine and Mr. Bullock procured the examples in their collections. Mr. Thompson has included 

 it among the birds of Ireland, on the authority of two specimens obtained in Wexford and Sligo. 

 In Denmark it appeal's, but Kjeerbolling considers it not common in any part. Nilsson states 

 that it is found in pairs during summer in most of the non-evergreen woods in Southern and 

 Central Sweden, and has also been seen in the Djur-garden Park, near Stockholm; between 

 Orebro and Westeras it is found numerously, but is rare in the north. It leaves Sweden in 

 August or about the middle of September. Mr. R. Collett, in his work on the ornithology of 

 Christiania, speaks of it as an accidental visitor, and names several instances of its occurrence. 



Mr. Meves has written to us as follows : — 



" On my journey to Archangel I only saw the Roller twice, at the Ladoga and Onega lakes. 

 Here at Stockholm, as also in Central and Southern Sweden, it is not uncommon. In Upland it 

 is scarcer, and of very rare occurrence in Gestrikland. It breeds in holes in old oaks, aspens, &c, 

 and generally lays four or five eggs. I have, however, one sitting of six eggs from Styria." 



In Finland it is a rare and occasional visitant in the south, having only been met with to the 

 north as far as Helsingfors. Throughout the whole of the Baltic provinces and Pomerania it is 

 not uncommon, being there a bird of passage, and leaving in the winter. Holland and the 

 Netherlands appear to be seldom visited by the Roller ; and in Belgium and Luxembourg it is a 

 rare and accidental visitant. JJegland and Gerbe say that in France it is found during migration 

 in the Franche Comte, Lorraine, Champagne, and the north, and a few breed in the south of 

 France. In Spain it is abundant, but in Portugal is more rare. 



Respecting the Roller, as observed by him in the former country, our friend Mr. Howard 

 Saunders has sent us the following note : — 



"This bird generally arrives in Andalucia early in April; but in 1868 I observed a small 

 flock near Jaen on the 13th of March, an unusually early appearance: it leaves the country in 

 November. It swarms throughout all the districts of the country not burnt up. Between 

 Seville and Cordova, for instance, a score might be seen at almost any moment on a fine April 



