THE BLUE ROLLER 



(Coracias garrulus) 



MONG the birds of brilliant plumage which occasionally straggle to the 

 British Isles, one of the most gaudy is the blue roller, so called on 

 account of its roling, or "rolling," flight. In India this and an allied 

 species are commonly called the blue jay, while in Poland the present bird is 

 locally termed the Polish parrot. The roller has, however, nothing to do with 

 either jays or parrots, but is more nearly related to the king-fishers. 



Although the blue roller is practically an unmistakable bird— certainly so 

 far as British species are concerned— it may be well to mention that the head, 

 neck, wing-coverts, and under-parts are bright greenish blue, the back and 

 shoulders cinnamon-brown, the flight-feathers blue at the roots and elsewhere 

 black above and wholly deep blue beneath, the upper tail-coverts deep ultramarine, 

 while the two middle tail-feathers are dirty brown, and the other feathers of the 

 tail sky-blue, with the tips of the outer pair, which are somewhat lengthened, black. 

 In size the bird is rather smaller than a crow. 



The normal summer range of the species includes central and southern 

 Europe, and thence extends through central Asia to Kashmir ; while in winter it 

 embraces India and the greater part of Africa. Northwards this bird is found as 

 far as Scandinavia, although only occasionally ; but its chief haunts in Europe 

 are Spain, Portugal, Greece, Poland, and southern Russia. It makes its annual 

 appearance in Europe towards the end of April, and takes its departure, like the 

 cuckoo, not later than August. In Asia Minor, Persia, Baluchistan, India, and 

 Ceylon it is replaced, except in winter (when both are found together), by the 

 closely allied Coracias indicus. A third species extends from the eastern Himalaya 

 through Burma to Cochin China and Siam, a fourth inhabits Celebes, and quite 

 a number are indigenous to Africa. In Australasia and the New World these 

 birds are unknown. 



Avoiding swampy localities and high mountains, the roller resorts to dry 

 open districts with thin forest in which birch abounds, and where hollow oaks or 

 beech are to be found. Here it prefers to dwell at the edge of the forest, where 

 isolated trees grow in the fields and by the roadsides, and command a wide view 

 of the country. In harvest-time it repairs to the sheaves in the cornfields. 



The bird is, however, largely insectivorous, and from its perch in some tall 

 tree sallies forth in search of all kinds of insects and other invertebrates as well as 

 young frogs, while it will also eat field-mice. In their season figs afford it a much 

 appreciated feast. 



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