72 
Allen’s naturalist’s librauv. 
under surface of body light greenish-blue, paler on the abdo- 
men and under tail-coverts ; lower back and rump purplish- 
blue • wing-coverts greenish-blue, those along the edge of the 
wing purplish-blue ; quills black, the outer web greenish-blue 
at the base, shading into purple ; primary quills externally 
>meenish-blue, the seeondaries externally purple ; centre tail- 
feathers dull oily-green, the remainder greenish-blue for two- 
thirds of the outer web and black on the inner web, the ends 
of the feathers greenish-blue with a black shaft, the blue in- 
creasing in extent on the outside tail-feathers, the outeimost 
having a black spot at the tip ; bill blackish hoin-colour ; 
feet dark yellow ; iris dark brown. Total length, 12 inches; 
culmen, 1-3 ; wing, 7-5 ; tail, 4-8; tarsus, 0-85. 
Adult Female.— Like the male in plumage. Total length, 
1 2 inches ; wing, 7 -4. 
Young Birds.— Resemble the adults, but are much duller in 
colour, the head and neck being oily-green, the blue on the 
wings not so bright, and the greenish-blue portion shaded with 
brown ; the colour of the under-parts much duller, and the 
outer tail-feathers not tipped with black. 
Eaugo in Great Britain.-An occasional visitor in spring and 
autumn. It has occurred over a hundred times, and has been 
met with as far north as the Orkneys and Shetland Isles, as 
well as in Ireland, where some half-dozen ^ notices of its 
canture have been recorded. It is, however, in the southern 
and eastern counties of England that the Roller has most 
frequently occurred. 
Range outside the British Islands.-The Roller is a summer 
migrant to Central and Southern Eurojie, being more plentiful 
in the south, arriving in April and departing in August. It is 
found in Northern (iermany, and breeds in Sweden as far as 
61° N lat and as for as St. Petersburg in Russia. Its eastern 
range extends to the Altai Mountains and to Cashmere, while 
it also occurs as for north as Omsk in Siberia. The winter 
home of the Common Roller is in Africa, where it reaches the 
Cape, passing through Egypt and through Eastern Africa to 
arrive at its winter home. The bird breeds in Cashmere, 
and apparently a few winter in North-western and Central 
