are deposited, on no softer nest than the chips of dead wood at the bottom afford. The Aral)s used 
frequently to catch the birds at their holes, and bring them, eggs and all, to us. Their local name is 
‘ S/migurug’ derived from one of the cries of the bird, which it well expresses.” In his notes on the 
ornithology of the same country, Mr. Tristram says, “ Occasionally the Roller would rise screaming from a 
chestnut-tree, and after making grotesque gyrations in the air, like those of a Tumbler Pigeon, drop head- 
long into the forest and out of sight.” 
Lieut. Sperling states that, like the Hoopoe, it is a common bird round the shores of the Mediterranean ; 
and after mentioning that he had seen it at Malta, adds that he observed it to be very abundant in Syria, 
and says, “ In most accounts of the Roller’s habits, it is stated to be a shy bird, frequenting woods and 
forests ; my experiences of it are exactly the reverse. On the Plain of Sharon, where the distance between 
trees is measured by miles, I have seen Rollers in the greatest abundance, their beautiful green bodies 
bending the slender reeds of a swamp, apjjarently waiting for deluded frogs to make their appearance from 
the cool depths below. I could certainly have shot twenty in a day without exciting myself about them.” 
Mr. Wright states that at Malta it “appears annually in spring and autumn, sometimes in small flocks of 
five or six. It is common in April or May, a few lingering till June. An instance is recorded of a pair 
breeding in a ruined house in an unfrequented part of the country. It is often called the Jay, or Blue Jay, 
by English residents and visitors.” 
Lord Lilford informs us “ that it arrives in Corfu in great numbers about the middle of April, but only 
remains for a few days. It breeds on the mainland. I found a nest in the walls of a ruined house at 
Delvino in May 1857. The birds had quite lost their timidity, and flew round my head chattering and 
screaming as I approached the nest, which I suspect was an old one of some other bird. I discovered 
another nest in June of the same year, in the banks of the Kataito River near the village of Mursyah. In 
this instance the nest was in a hole in the bank, and consisted of a few twigs carelessly put together.” 
Dr. Heuglin mentions that it is “ very numerous in October and November in the woody marshes on the 
Somali coast. Here locusts abounded, and many birds were feeding eagerly on them. Specimens were 
shot on the island of Deber in the Red Sea on the 29th of July.” 
In Savoy, where it is known by the names of Jay-Parrakeet and African Jay, on account of the mixture 
of blue and green colouring in its plumage, and its being known to come from that country, it appears 
twice a year — in the spring from the commencement of April to the middle of May, and again from the end 
of August to the beginning of October, when it retires to its winter quarters: at this latter season young 
birds are mostly seen, and adults are very rare. It generally appears one at a time, which is the reason of 
its being regarded as a wild bird peculiar to Africa. In the spring it is occasionally met with in couples, 
and in the autumn in small bands. During its spring passage a few remain among the great trees and the 
willows which border the lakes, ponds, rivers, and marshes ; here it perches among the branches ; and if it 
descends to the ground, it is to visit the freshly tilled fields and meadows in search of worms, grasshoppers, 
crickets, snails, and small frogs. In the autumn it is more frequently found in the thick wood and the little- 
frequented sides of the lower mountains ; it there feeds on larvae, caterpillars, and various kinds of insects, 
pulpy fruits, and berries. Vieillot says, its cry is sonorous, and the specific name of garrula, assigned to it 
by Linnaeus, indicates that it is a chatterer. 
It will have been observed that by some persons this bird has been described as shy and distrustful, and 
by others of habits and disposition directly opposite ; I suspect that where undisturbed the latter description 
applies, and the former is due to the persecution to which it has been subjected consequent upon man’s 
desire to possess an object of so much beauty. 
Like the members of the genus Eurystomus, it is noisy and garrulous, particularly during the breeding- 
season. Although a forest-loving bird, it evinces a preference for those trees which skirt open plains or great 
glades ; here it perches on the high dead branches, and thence sallies forth to capture any passing insect. 
The situations selected for nesting are very similar to those resorted to by the Eurystomi, namely hollows 
in the branches and boles of trees. Here it lays on the bare wood its three or four pure white-eggs, the 
shining character of which reminds us of those of the Kingfisher, to which group of birds the Roller is 
someAvhat allied. They appear to vary in shape ; for Mr. Wolley mentions that he has found them to differ 
in this res|)ect even in the same nest. 
The accompanying Plate, which furnishes an accurate Illustration of an adult male, renders a detailed 
description of that sex unnecessary. The female, which is represented in the reduced figure, differs in being 
somewhat paler and in having a wash of grey over the chestnut-red of the back, but when old is very like 
the male ; the young merely differ in being somewhat paler than the female. 
