follows : — " A single mounted specimen of the Indian Roller is in the collection, which is stated 

 to have been shot on the railway-line on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, between Haider 

 Pacha and Ismidt. Mr. William Pearse, of Haskeui, who is engaged in obtaining specimens to 

 supplement the series, told us that he received the skin of the bird when quite fresh, and that it 

 was shot in company with a flock of the common Poller [Coracias garrula). The Indian Roller 

 is already known to occur on the Persian Gulf. Sclater has examined specimens obtained at 

 Bunder Abbas by Doria in 1862, now in the Civic Museum of Genoa; and Mr. Blanford, we 

 believe, likewise met with it in Southern Persia; so that its occasional occurrence in Asia Minor 

 is not very surprising. Halcyon smyrnensis has, we know, a somewhat similar range." It pro- 

 bably occurs more frequently in Asia Minor ; for Mr. Danford says, in his notes on the ornithology 

 of Asia Minor (Ibis, 1878, p. 7), that it was " once seen on the level country at the base of Ala- 

 dagh, between Giaourkeui and Bereketlii." Mr. Blanford writes (E. Persia, ii. p. 126) that " the 

 Indian Roller inhabits somewhat sparingly the countries of Southern Persia and Baluchistan 

 which are below the level of about 3000 feet above the sea, its range in these countries being 

 nearly the same as that of the date-palm. De Filippi, on the authority of the Marchese Doria, 

 gives as its habitat, in Persia, ' beyond Isfahan in the region of the palms ;' but no palms are 

 met with so far north as Isfahan, except on the edge of the salt desert north of Yezd, and I 

 think that beyond (i. e. south of) Shiraz would more accurately represent the range of the bird. 

 It extends west as far as the neighbourhood of Bushire. Whether it is found at the extreme 

 end of the Persian Gulf, or on the south-west coast of the Gulf in Arabia, I cannot say. On the 

 few occasions on which I saw this Roller in Baluchistan, it was on date-palms. It is of course 

 non-migratory, the region which it inhabits being sufficiently warm to furnish a supply of insect 

 food at all seasons." To this Major St. John adds that it is " non-migratory, and found only in 

 the palm groves on the coasts and in the neighbouring valleys. About Daliki and Khisht both 

 species of Roller are abundant in spring and summer, the European bird spending its winter in 

 Arabia, while Coracias inclica remains at home. In these places I have shot a great many spe- 

 cimens in the hope of finding a hybrid, but without success." According to Dr. Jerdon (B. of 

 India, i. p. 215), this Roller " is distributed throughout the whole of India, from Ceylon and 

 Cape Comorin to the base of the Himalayas ; towards the north-east of our limits it begins to 

 disappear, and is replaced by Coracias affinis ; and in the extreme north-west its place is taken by 

 Coracias garrula of Europe and Western Asia. Adams asserts that it is also found in Ladakh 

 and Tibet ; and he ignores the existence of Coracias garrula in the north-west." Speaking of its 

 range in Ceylon, Mr. Holdsworth writes (P. Z. S. 1872, p. 423) as follows; — "This bird, although 

 undoubtedly locally common in the north of Ceylon, has never come under my notice in the 

 jungly district of Aripo, nor have I seen it in the south of the island. In the country between 

 Colombo and Kandy, however, I have frequently met with it." 



In habits this bird closely resembles our common European Roller. According to Dr. Jerdon 

 (I. c.) k 'it frequents alike open jungles, groves, avenues, gardens, clumps of trees in the open 

 country, and, except in thick forest, is to be found everywhere, and is sure to be met with about 

 every village. It generally takes its perch on the top, or outermost branch, of some high tree; 

 and on spying an insect on the ground, which it can do at a very great distance, it flies direct to 

 the spot, seizes it, and returns to its perch to swallow it. A favourite perch of the Roller is a 



