292 Passeres. BIRDS. Coraciadas. 
late in the season, that the period of migration arrives 
before the young are able to fly, and in this case the 
parents have been observed to leave their progeny to 
perish by starvation. 
Occasionally, the sparrows, which take advantage of 
every cavity about our houses for their own purposes, 
finding the nest of a martin ready for use, take posses- 
sion of it without ceremony ; in this case the rightful 
owners eiideavour, generally with success, to oust the 
intruder from their domicile. Sometimes, however, 
the sparrow in possession obstinately refuses to quit 
his usurped abode, and then the martins have been 
seen to adopt a very curious mode of revenging them- 
selves, which we may describe here, as it also furnishes 
another example of a cemmunity of action in these 
birds. When the owners of the nest find that all their 
endeavours are insufficient to turn out the robber, they 
collect their friends and neighbours in great numbers, 
and watch the moment when the sparrow is engaged 
in the business of incubation ; then, the whole body, 
each bearing a mass of soft earth in its bill, rushes at 
once to the nest, and in a few moments the aperture 
at the top is closed by a solid mass of mud, which 
no efforts on the part of the unhappy prisoner can 
possibly break through. So determined are they, 
indeed, to effect their object thoroughljq that, in a case 
recorded by the Vicomte de Tarragon, the mass of 
clay stuffed into the aperture was “ nearly of the form 
and size of a small hen’s egg, the two ends projecting 
into and out of the nest.” The sparrow was found 
dead upon her eggs. 
About the end of September, or the beginning of 
October, in this country, the martins collect in flocks, 
preparatory to their departure for their winter quarters. 
They assemble on the house-tops, and sweep about in 
the streets, even of large towns, in such a manner as 
must attract the attention of the most unobservant pas- 
sengers. About the middle of October they leave this 
country ; but individuals, and even small flocks, are 
sometimes seen at a much later period. The latest 
on record, is that of a martin seen at Sidmouth iii 
Devonshire; by the Rev. W. F. Cornish, on the 10th 
December, 1835. 
Family IV.— CORACIADAE. 
With the present family we commence the series of 
groups, which, although united with the Fissirostres by 
all modern ornithologists, present so many differences 
from the birds forming the preceding three families, 
that we may regard them as constituting a distinct 
section of the fissirostral tribe. In the majority of 
these birds, as we have already stated, the outer toe is 
united to the middle one for the greater part of its 
length, a character belonging to the group denomi- 
nated by Cuvier Syndactyli. 
This syndactylous character of the feet does not, 
however, occur in perfection in the first family of this 
section, that of the Coraciadcc or Rollers; in these 
birds the outer toe is sometimes free, and sometimes 
united to the middle one only at the base, in the same 
way as in a great number of other birds. The species 
of this family present a considerable resemblance to some 
other forms placed in the conirostral and dentirostral 
sections of the Passeres. In fact, in the form of Ibe 
body, the gait, and to a certain extent in manners, 
they are so like some members of the corvine family, 
that they were placed in juxtaposition with them by 
the older writers. They possess an elongated bill, 
which is usually broad and depressed at the base, and 
compressed at the sides towards the tip, which is often 
slightly hooked. The gape is wide, reaching back 
generally as far as the eyes ; it is bordered at the base 
of the upper mandible by a row of bristles. 
The birds of this family are often distinguished by 
gi’eat beauty of plumage. They are for the most part 
confined to hot countries, a few only being inhabitants 
of the more temperate regions. Their food consists 
principally of insects, but some of them are found to 
subsist also wholly or in part upon vegetable sub- 
stances. We have only a single British species, 
namelj'’ — 
THE COMMON ROLLER (Coracias garrula), an inha- 
bitant of the African continent, from which, however, it 
migrates freely in the summer into Europe, but is only 
a rare and occasional visitor to this countrj' (fig. 105). 
In the south and east of Europe, and even in the great 
forests of Germany, it is, however, not uncommon, but 
in Asia it seems only to occur in the parts bordering, 
on Europe, namely, in Asia Minor, and the countries 
between the Black Sea and the Caspian. On the 
steppes of Southern Russia it is abundant, and goes by 
the name of the Steppe Parrot, a name given to it, no 
doubt, partly on account of its squalling voice, and 
partly from its beautiful [)lumage. In the latter respect, 
it is indeed one of the most brilliant of European birds. 
The head, nock, and wing coverts are of a beautiful, 
rich greenish-blue colour; the shoulders, rump, and 
tail coverts are blue; the back, scapularies, and ter- 
tials are yellowish-brown ; the wing primaries and 
secondaries are of a fine verditer blue at the base, 
with the rest blue-black; the two middle feathers of 
the tail are blackish-green, the remainder bluish-green, 
the outer feathers on each side being tipped with black ; 
the whole lower surface of the body is pale bluish- 
green, with the throat verditer blue, and the lower sur- 
face of the quill feathers, both of the wings and tail, is 
rich blue. The feet are yellowish-brown ; the bill and 
claws black. In the male the outer tail feathers are 
slightly elongated. The whole length of the bird is 
about thirteen inches. 
The foregoing description will give but a very im- 
perfect notion of this beautiful bird, which is described 
by one observer as looking “ like a moving rainbow,” 
when flying in the sun. It passes the winter in Africa, 
and probably the majority of the individuals of this 
species dwell throughout the year on that continent, 
for it does not appear that the northern migration is 
by any means universal. It is not only common in 
the islands of the Mediterranean, in passing to and 
from its winter quarters, when it is so abundant, espe- 
cially in Malta, that it is cai)tured in great quantities, 
but also stays in those localities throughout the sum- 
mer, and breeds there. In central Europe it usually 
inhabits the dense forests, where it builds its nest in 
the holes of trees, generally preferring the birch for this 
