THE ROI.LEKS. 
71 
Coracias and Eurystonius. They are all birds of brilliant 
plumage, especially remarkable for the briglit blue colour of 
the wings and tail ; but the Broad-billed Rollers {Etiry’stomus), 
which have a wide and slightly-hooked ^ bill, are found in 
Africa and the Indian and Australian Regions, even extending 
to China and Eastern Siberia, while the True Rollers, which 
have a much narrower and more slender bill, are not found in 
the Australian Region at all. 
THE TYPICAL ROLLERS. GENUS CORACIAS. 
Coracias, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 150 (1766). 
Type, C. garrulns (L.). 
As has been already mentioned, the Rollers are somewhat 
like Crows in shape, and it is doubtless this Corvine aspect 
and the brilliant blue of their plumage that leads to their 
bein-T called “Jays” in so many countries, particularly in 
Indil The bill is also Corvine, and the nostrils are placed 
near the base of the upper mandible, and are hidden by bristly 
plumes. The tail consists of twelve feathers, and the outer- 
most on each side is sometimes produced to a considerable 
length in some African species. The Common Roller likewise 
exhibits a tendency to an elongation of the outer tail-feather. 
The base of the bill is beset with several strong bristles. 
I. COMMON ROLLER. CORACIAS GARRULUS. 
Coracias gcirruhis, Linn. S. N. i. p. 159 M-RCg. Br. B. 
iii. p. 540 (1840); Dresser, B. Eur. v. p. 141, pi 293 
(1871); Newton, ed. Yarn ii. p. 428 (1881); B. O. U. 
List Br. B. p. 82 (1883); Seebohm, Br. B. 11. p. 321 
(1884); Saunders, Man. p. 271 (1889) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Br. B. part xii. (1890); Sharpe, Cat. B. xvil p. 15 (1892). 
(Plate XXXV.) 
Adult Male. — General colour above light tawny-brown ; head 
greenish-blue, the forehead and eyebrow whitish, the hinder 
part of the latter greenish-blue like the crown ; lores black; 
fore part of cheeks and chin white ; sides of face, cheeks, and 
