23 
Germany, arriving from the south early in May and leaving again in September. Taczanowski speaks 
of it as being common in summer in Poland ; and in Russia, as in Eastern Germany, it is a common 
summer visitant, ranging northward into Finland, where, however, it becomes rare and does not appear 
to have been recorded north of Helsingfors except as a very rare straggler; but two specimens have 
been obtained as far north as the Varanger Fjord, the first of which was procured in an exhausted 
condition near Nyborg in October 1868, and the second in November the same year. Throughout 
Central Russia it appears to be very generally distributed during the summer, and, judging from the 
number of skins sent from Sarepta on the Volga, it must be very common there. Dr. Radde also 
speaks of it as being common in the Caucasus from April to September, and in Transcaspia both 
Radde and Zarudny found it equally numerous. In Southern Europe I find it recorded as by no 
means common in Switzerland, but it occurs regularly in Savoy at the two seasons of migration. In 
Italy it is not very common, but occurs in spring and autumn and a few breed there. In Sardinia it 
is scarce and is said to occur on passage in spring, and in Sicily it is, according to Malherbe, a summer 
visitant, arriving early in April, remaining to breed, and leaving again in September; but it has. 
Count Salvadori says, not been recorded from Corsica, although it is said to be numerous at Malta, 
from which island Mr. C. A. Wright has sent many specimens. In Greece it breeds in considerable 
numbers; and Lord Lilford met with it in Corfu, where it arrives about the middle of April, and 
passes on to the mainland to breed. Throughout Southern Germany, Austria, the countries bordering 
the Danube, Turkey, South Russia, and in Asia Minor it is a common summer resident, as it is also, 
according to Lord Lilford, in Cyprus. 
Dr. Tristram writes [1. c.) that in Palestine it “ appears in large flocks about the 1st of April, and 
they very gradually disperse themselves over the whole country, breeding in burrows in sand or gravel 
banks, very often in small colonies, and more frequently in single pairs by themselves in a hollow 
tree or rocky cleft. Brilliant and conspicuous both in plumage, note, and manners, the Rollers 
attract attention everywhere, and are found in every kind of country alike, woodland, plain, desert- 
ravines, ruins, always perching where they can see and be seen.” 
It is found in Arabia : Yerbury records it from Aden, where it appears, he says, to be resident. 
Mr. Cumming states that at Fao, in the Persian Gulf, it is a migrant, passing in large flocks from S.E. 
to N.W. in May and returning, though in very small numbers, in September and October, and 
Dr. Sharpe records it from Bushire. 
According to Mr. Blanford [1. c.) “ the European Roller is a migratory bird in Persia, arriving 
in the spring and breeding on the highlands. In Baluchistan, which country it traverses in the 
same manner as Mero^s a^iaster and M. cegyptius do, I first saw it on the plains near Bampur in 
the second week in April. I doubt if it remains there to breed. Most probably this Roller and the 
two Bee-eaters cross the hot regions near the shores of the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf and 
betake themselves to the highlands of Central Asia, Persia, Afghanistan, Turkestan, &c. So far as I 
know, none remain in Southern Persia in the winter, but all cross over into Arabia. Whether they 
remain there or continue their journey to Africa we shall probably learn when some adventurous 
ornithologist explores the oases of Central Arabia, the hills and valleys of Oman, and the palm groves 
of the coast north of Maskat. I did not notice any Rollers at Basrah in December; but the chilly 
climate of Mesopotamia at that season is ill suited for a purely insectivorous bird, and it is far 
more probable that this species would be met with in the extensive date-palm groves which line 
many parts of the Arabian coast in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, just as Goracias indica 
inhabits those on the Persian shores of the same seas.” To this Sir Oliver St. John adds that this 
species “ seems to leave Persia altogether in the vdnter, reappearing in Bushire, on its way north, 
