147 



Mr. Salvin, who found it breeding in North Africa, remarks that there it makes no nest, but 

 merely deposits its eggs on the chips of dead wood in the hole of a tree. Lord Lilford found its 

 nest in the walls of a ruined house at Delvino, in Greece, and on the banks of the Kalarto river, 

 near the village of Mursyah, in a hole in the bank, the nest merely consisting of a few twigs 

 carelessly put together. According to Lindermayer, in Greece it more generally nests in the old 

 walls of the ruined Turkish houses than in hollow trees ; and Dr. Otto Finsch states that in 

 Bulgaria it sometimes places its nest in a hole in the ground, which it digs itself. 



We have before us a series of eggs from Dresser's collection, taken in Pomerania and 

 Southern Austria (Styria), all of which are glossy white in colour, resembling in texture Wood- 

 pecker's eggs. The smallest of these measures l-j§ inch in length by 1^ in width, and the 

 largest lf§ inch in length by 1^ in width. 



The Roller is strictly insectivorous. Naumann, who can be fully depended on, says : — 



" Its food consists of all sorts of insects, beetles, grasshoppers, larvae and caterpillars, worms, 

 and small frogs. They pick most of the insects up from the ground ; and I have never seen 

 them catch an insect on the wing, or hop about on the branches after them. Those who say 

 that they eat grain and swallow whole ears of it have no good ground for the assertion ; for they 

 eat nothing in the shape of vegetables. Caged birds when forced to eat vegetable matter die from 

 it ; and I can state for certain that none that I have dissected had any thing but the remains of 

 insects in their stomachs." 



Thus there is no doubt that there are few birds more useful to the husbandman than the 

 Roller. 



Mr. T. E. Buckley, who has observed the Roller in South-eastern Europe, has kindly sent us 

 a note on its habits : — 



"The Roller is extremely abundant in Turkey, where they first arrived about April 20th. 

 In the early morning these birds were very noisy, chasing one another from tree to tree with 

 harsh screams. Other favourite resorts of theirs were the telegraph posts and wires. Although 

 so abundant, I do not remember having seen them alight on the ground. The only nest I ever 

 took was in Sweden, in June 1867. It was in the hole of a tree, probably an old Woodpecker's 

 nest, and the four eggs were laid on the bare wood. The old birds were rather shy ; but I suc- 

 ceeded in shooting the male. Above the Roller's nest was another hole, in which two Common 

 Swifts were building." 



To Mr. Thomas Robson, of Ortakeny, we are indebted for the following interesting com- 

 munication : — 



" This species is numerous in the spring and autumn migrations in Asia Minor and Turkey 

 in Europe. Quantities of them are shot by sportsmen, and are prized for food ; in the autumn 

 they feed almost entirely on locusts, and are then very fat. They affect mountains and the open 

 country where low brushwood is thinly scattered, although sometimes found in valleys. They sit 

 very much on low bushes or low trees, watching for a long time for their food, which generally 

 consists of beetles ; these they seize either in flight, or by a stoop to the ground when they see 

 them moving. They also sit much on low clods of earth on cultivated ground, watching for 

 beetles, locusts, &c. ; and as soon as the latter move, the sharp-sighted Roller pounces down on 

 them in a moment. At the time of migration they congregate both in small and large flocks. 



