54 BIRDS OF DAMABA LAND. 



the dry season comparatively few individuals are seen. 

 It is more shy and difficult of approach than Coracias 

 pilosa, w^hich it otherwise resembles as to food and habits. 

 The iris is yellowish brown, the ring round the eyes 

 greenish yellow, as are also the legs and toes ; the bill is 

 black. 



[It may be right here to mention that Mr. Layard, in his 

 ' Catalogue of the Birds of South Africa,' p. 60, states that he 

 has received Coracias abyssinica " from the neighbourhood of 

 Springbok Eontein, in Namaqua Land, and from Damara Land j" 

 but it is not referred to in Mr. Andersson's MS. notes, and I 

 have not met with it in any of his collections. 



Possibly some confusion may have arisen between specimens 

 of C. caudata and supposed examples of C abyssinica, the two 

 species being very nearly related. 



It appears clear from Mr. Andersson's MS. notes that the 

 species referred to in Mr. Chapman's appendix, loc. cit., under 

 the name of C. abyssinica, is in reality C. caudata. — ^Ed.] 



67. Coracias nsevia, Daud. WMte-naped Eoller. 



Le Eollier varU d'Afrique (jeime age), Levaillant's Ois. de Paradis et 



RoUiers, pi. 29. 

 Coracias ncevia, Daudin's Traits d'Orn. vol. ii. p. 258. 

 Coracias pilosus, Gurney, Birds Damar., Proc. Zool. Soc. 1804, p. 2. 

 Coracias michalis, Layard's Cat. No. 93. 



Coracias pilosa et nuchalis, Chapman's Travels in S. Afr., App. p. 408. 

 Coracias pilosa, Gray's liand-list of Birds, No. 898. 

 Coracias ncevia, Sharpe's Cat. No. .34. 



„ Sharpe, in Ibis, 1871, p. 190. 



This richly coloured and exceedingly handsome though 

 somewhat coarse-looking Eoller is not uncommon 

 throughout Damara Land, and it is also found in the 

 Lake-regions ; it is usually met with in pairs, and is not 

 particularly shy. It seldom extends its flight far, but occa- 



