102 
British Birds. 
THE ABYSSINIAN 
ROLLER. 
(Coracias abyssinicus.) 
itself in a bank. There is generally no attempt at 
a nest, but sometimes a few twigs or stems of grass 
are collected as an apology for one. 
The Roller winters in Eastern and Southern Africa, 
and, more sparingly, in North-western India. It arrives 
in its breeding-home in April, and is found throughout 
Central and Southern Europe, nesting as far north as 
Southern Sweden, and as far east as Cashmere. 
Two specimens of this 
purely African species are said 
to have been shot in Scotland, 
in 1857. It is a most unlikely 
bird to occur away from its African home, and one 
would almost think that some mistake must have 
taken place in the identification. The Abyssinian 
Roller is an exact counterpart of Coracias garrulus, 
excepting that the outer tail-feather on each side is 
prolonged into a long black ‘ streamer.’ Its home is in Senegambia and Abyssinia. 
A single specimen was shot near Louth in Lincolnshire, 
on the 27th of October, 1883, and was at first supposed to be 
an example of the Common Roller. It has since been 
identified by Mr. Cordeaux as the Indian species, which 
differs from C. garrulus in the colour of the under parts, as can be seen by the 
figures of the two birds. The Indian Roller is, as its name implies, an inhabitant of 
the Indian Peninsula, but it extends westward into Asia Minor. 
The Common Roller. 
THE INDIAN 
ROLLER. 
( Coracias indicus.) 
The Indian Roller. 
The Abyssinian Roller. 
