CORACIIDA. 281 
THE ROLLER. 
CorAcias GARRULUS, Linnzus. 
This bright-plumaged bird was first recorded as a visitor to our 
islands by Sir Thomas Browne, who described a specimen obtained 
in Norfolk in May 1644. Since then, upwards of a hundred 
examples have been noticed, chiefly in the southern and eastern 
counties of England and Scotland; some, however, have visited 
Caithness and the Orkneys, while in the west one has even reached 
St. Kilda. In Ireland there have been seven or eight occurrences, 
at long intervals. The majority of appearances in the British 
Islands have been in the autumn, but a fair proportion during the 
spring migration. 
To the Feroes and the north of Norway the Roller is only a 
straggler, and it is scarce in any part of the latter country; but in 
Sweden it breeds annually up to about 61° N. lat., and in Russia, 
sparingly, as far north as St. Petersburg. In Northern Germany 
it is not uncommon in summer, though rare in Denmark, Holland, 
Belgium and Northern France ; it is tolerably abundant in Central 
Europe; while in Spain and other countries bordering the 
Mediterranean it is very numerous, arriving in the Peninsula from 
the middle of March onwards, and leaving by November at the 
latest. It is plentiful in Turkey, Southern Russia, Asia Minor, 
Zz 
