CORACIINiE. CORACIAS. 
99 
basal, lateral, oblique, linear, partially concealed by the 
feathers. Eyes of moderate size, with a bare triangular 
space behind. Feet very short ; tarsus with seven very 
broad scutella : hind toe rather small, second shorter than 
the third, anterior toes free ; claws of moderate length, 
arched, much compressed, slender, acute. Plumage rather 
full, blended ; several strong decurved bristles on each side 
of the mouth ; wings of moderate length, very broad ; the 
second and third quills longest ; tail rather long, of twelve 
broad feathers, generally even, but sometimes with the outer 
feathers longer. 
The EoUers are peculiar to the Old Continent and its 
islands, species occurring in the warmer parts of Asia, and 
in Africa, and one of them extending into Europe. 
46. CoRACiAS GAHRULA. Garrulous Koller. 
Head, neck, and lower parts light bluish-green ; back and 
scapulars light brown ; smaller wing-coverts light blue ; 
quills light greenish-blue at the base, deep bluish-black in 
the rest of their extent ; tail greenish-blue, the outer feathers 
tipped with black, and about a quarter of an inch longer than 
the rest. Young dull brown above, greyish-green beneath. 
Male, 13, 7jV? 1 t%> 1? 1? vi* 
The Poller is said to occur in various parts of Asia and 
Africa, and to extend even as far northward as Denmark and 
Sweden. Although very rare in Britain, it has been several 
times obtained in England and Scotland, one having been 
killed even in Orkney, and another in Shetland. It is said 
to nestle in hollow trees, or in holes on the banks of rivers, 
and to lay four or five eggs of a broadly elliptical form, 
smooth, and of a glossy white. 
Common Poller. 
Coracias garrula, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 159. — Coracias gar- 
rula, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. i. 127. — Coracias garrula. Gar- 
rulous Poller, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iii. 540. 
The birds described above may be considered as belong- 
ing to a group characterized by their inaptitude for walking, 
and which might therefore be viewed as Aerial, compared 
with those which follow, and which, being equally well 
adapted for walking and flying, might be designated as 
