THE ROLLER. 37 
also occurred accidentally on the Feroes and in the extreme north of Norway. It 
is a summer visitor to Algeria, but is only known during winter in Egypt. To 
Palestine and Asia Minor, Persia, Turkestan, Afghanistan, Cashmere, and the 
Punjab it is a summer visitor. It breeds in South-west Siberia as far north as 
Omsk and as far east as the Altai Mountains. It winters in Arabia, the valley of 
the Upper Nile, and throughout South Africa.” (Hist. British Birds, vol. u, 
Pp: 327)- 
Although a mere straggler to our islands, this beautiful species has occurred 
more than a hundred times with us, mostly during the autumn migration, and on 
the southern and ‘eastern coasts of England and Scotland, including, however, the 
Orkneys, Shetlands, and even St. Kilda. . About half a dozen examples havé been 
obtained in Ireland. 
The Roller has the upper parts mostly glossy greenish blue, the mantle 
chestnut ; upper wing-coverts deep blue, greater wing-coverts and base of primaries 
pale blue; quills black, innermost secondaries chestnut; tail mostly deep blue, 
paler at the tip; under parts mostly pale blue, chin white, wings below deep 
purplish-blue: bill blackish; feet yellowish-brown; iris darkschestnut. The female 
resembles the male in plumage: young birds are altogether duller and browner 
in colour. 
Dixon (Jottings, p. 44) says of this bird :—‘I met with it very abundantly in 
the evergreen oak woods and the cedar forests of the Djebel Aurés, but ‘did not 
see a trace of it in the oases south of the Atlas.” Seebohm quotes the following 
notes on the habits of the Roller, as observed in Algeria, from the pen of the 
same author:—‘‘ The Roller has many singular traits. -Its flight is varied and 
full of strange manceuvres; its voice is most discordant. It is excessively fond of 
perching on the topmost branches of the trees, always preferring a dead limb if 
it can find one, where its showy dress can be seen for half a mile or more. It 
cannot be called a shy bird, although it is a wary one, and usually takes wing 
before you get within range of a safe shot. I have often seen this bird soar to 
a great height, and then drop perpendicularly down, something like the ‘shooting’ 
of the Rook, to a perch directly below it. Sometimes it turns over in the air 
like a Tumbler Pigeon; and in the pairing-season two birds often chase each other 
and gambol in the air. The Roller is often seen on the ground in search of its 
food, which in these regions is largely composed of beetles, locusts, grasshoppers, 
and any garbage it may find; for it is no more particular in its diet than a Crow 
or a Jay, which latter bird it resembles very closely in its habits. The flight of 
the Roller is very unsteady; but I cannot help thinking that the peculiar pattern 
of the birds’ brilliant plumage gives its flight the appearance of ‘being more 
Vou. III res 
