KIRO UMBOS— ROLLERS. 



335 



The Kiroumbos. — 

 Sub-Order 



Leptosomati. 



is placed in the middle of the upper mandible, a quite peculiar position for 

 that of a Picarian bird. The fourth toe is partly reversible, 

 a character peculiar to the Climbing Birds. The affinity 

 with the Frog-moutha is remote, but is shown by the 

 possession of powder-down patches. The sexes differ in 

 plumage, the male being glossy green above and grey 

 below, while the female is rufous above, with a black head, and bars on the 

 sides of the head and back of the neck, the under-surface being fawn colour. 

 Like the Rollers, the Kiroumbo has a habit of playing in the air, ascending 

 to a great height, and then descending in a curve nearly to the tops of the 

 trees by almost closing its wings, at the same time uttering a whistle so like 

 that of an eagle, that Sir Edward Newton says he was some time before he 

 could satisfy himself that the note was that of the Kiroumbo. 



In these beautiful birds we find a single family, only known from the Old 

 World, but there almost universally distributed. The palate is " desmog- 

 nathous," or bridged, and the soles of the feet are flat, 

 the toes being united together for nearly their entire The Kellers.— 

 length. In Madagascar three forms of Ground-Rollers Sub-order C'orari^. 

 occur, constituting the sub-family Brachypteraciiibce, and 

 remarkable for their long legs. Little is known of their habits ; but the 

 Pitta- like Ground-Roller (Atelornis pittoides) is known to frequent the 

 ground, and only to perch on the lowest branches of the trees. They have 

 a direct and straight flight, and jerk their tails in a curious way whenever 

 they alight on a branch. 



The true Rollers, of which the Common Roller (Coracias garruliis) is the 

 type, consist of two genera, Coracias and Eurydonius, forming the sub- 

 family Coraciince. These are birds of 

 bright colours, and are more arboreal in 

 habit than the Mascarene Rollers of the 

 Bub-family Brachypteraciince. Not being 

 ground-runners, we find the metatarsus 

 much shorter in Coracias than in the last- 

 mentioned birds. The Rollers build in 

 holes of trees, laying white eggs, but not 

 making much nest, the latter consisting 

 of a few roots, straws, or feathers. Both 

 sexes incubate, and during the breeding- 

 season the male ascends to a considerable 

 height in the air, and then descends 

 to where the nest is situated by a series 

 of somersaults and jerks, uttering a harsh 

 note, which Naumann describes as " rah-rahiih-rrah-rra,'' etc., changing to 

 " rock " as the bird throws a somersault. 



The genus Coracias has a longish bill, not unlike that of a crow, and 

 nearly all the species have bright greenish-blue on the wings and tail, 

 which colour is very conspicuous when the birds are flying. They are 

 found in Europe, thence to Central Asia, throughout Africa, India, and the 

 Burmese provinces, reappearing in Celebes, where one species, C. Ummmcki, 

 occurs. _. 



The Broad-billed Rollers {Eurystomus) occur in Africa, India, Australia, 

 and one species, E. calonyx, actually goes to Eastern Siberia during the 

 nesting season. 



Fig. 70. — The Common-Roller 

 (Coracias garruius). 



