5 
Abyssinia he found it tolerably high up in the mountains. I may here mention that Major Yerbury 
observed a Long-tailed Roller, probably the present species, at Haith-al-him, near Aden. Mr. Blanford 
writes [1. c.) that in Abyssinia “this bird is not rare locally on the highlands, but by no means 
generally distributed. I saw it occasionally between Dolo and Antalo and again, rather more 
commonly, about Lake Ashangi (8000 feet above the sea) and in some of the valleys further south, 
but not on the plateaux. It was very common in the subtropical region of the Anseba and Lebka, 
and I saw one or two birds in August in Samhar, near the coast.” Antinori and Salvadori write that 
this Roller probably remains most of, if not all, the year in the Bogos territory, and Antinori remarks 
that it is the most widely distributed species in North Central Africa from 15° N. lat. down to the 
equator. Specimens killed in September, he adds, have the lateral tail-feathers longest. 
On the west coast it has been met with from Senegambia down to the equator, and judging from 
the number of skins I have seen at the plume-dealers, all of which came from Senegal, it must be 
extremely common there. Hartert states {I. c.) that it was often seen from Keffi to Sokoto in the 
Niger district, and according to von Heuglin it is found in the Gaboon district. Finally, I may add 
that Dr. R. B. Sharpe records this Roller from Bulama, one of the Bissagos Islands off the west 
coast of Africa, having received a specimen in a small collection of Birds made there by Lieut. Bulger. 
Montbeillard figured a Roller [1. c.) from Senegal, under the name of Le Rollier du Senegal, which 
several naturalists have considered to be a distinct species, inasmuch as in it the ferruginous 
coloration of the back commences immediately behind the nape instead of at the interscapular region ; 
but since later research has failed to show that any such bird really inhabits Senegal, it seems 
to me highly probable that Montbeillard’s plate was drawn from an aberrantly marked specimen of 
Coracias abyssinicus. That such a bird as that figured by Montbeillard did exist seems tolerably 
certain, as Edw^ards (‘Gleanings of Nat. Hist.’ pi. 327) figured one similarly marked, and states 
that it was shown to him by a “ Mr. Page, gentleman to Lord Melbourne,” who informed him that it 
was a native of the island of Ceylon—which was undoubtedly a mistake, as no such Roller occurs 
in Ceylon. 
The present species has also been recorded as a rare straggler as far north even as the British 
Isles. 
According to Dr. Bree, Mr. Small, a naturalist at Edinburgh, had in his possession a male 
Abyssinian Roller which was killed near Glasgow, a year or two previous to 1859 ; and he says that 
\ 
Mr. Small stated that the female was also obtained a short time after, about forty miles distant from 
where the male was killed. Dr. Bree suggested that possibly these two were birds escaped from 
confinement; but this is a bird I have never known to be held in captivity. According to Gray 
(B. of W. of Scotl. p. 203) the specimen is in the Paisley Museum, so at my request Mr. J. A. Harvie 
Brown went to Paisley, examined the specimen in question, and compared it with specimens of 
Coracias abyssinicus and Coracias garrulus which I sent to him for that purpose, and wrote to me as 
follows :—“ There is not the remotest doubt attaching to the Abyssinian Roller now before me, and 
it is labelled ‘ Abyssinian Roller, Coracias garrula, shot at Crookston, near Paisley, Renfrewshire, and 
presented by Mr. Robert Small, taxidermist, Edinburgh.’ ” There appears therefore no doubt that the 
specimen in question is really referable to Coracias abyssinicus and is not, as I suggested to Mr. Harvie 
Brown, Coracias garrulus with the external rectrices slightly elongated, as does sometimes occur in 
what are probably very old birds of C. garrulus ; but whence the bird in question came to Scotland, 
and how a strictly African species could have wandered so far from home, it is difficult to surmise. 
In habits the Abyssinian Roller is stated to assimilate closely with its allies, and its cry is harsh 
and loud. Blanford says that its “ habits are precisely similar to those of Coracias indicus. It is 
