XIX 
HABITS AND DISTEIBUTION. 
As a rule the Rollers are forest-haunting birds, or at least they do not affect open places, except 
gardens and such localities where there is an abundant tree or bush growth, and many of the species 
are inhabitants of the true forest far away from the haunts of men. With the exception of those 
included in the genera Brackyj^teracias and Atelornis, they are arboreal in their habits, and are 
generally seen amongst the taller trees; and all the species are usually found singly or in pairs, and 
are not gregarious in their habits. The Ground-Rollers and Pitta-Rollers, which are confined to the 
forest-regions of Madagascar, are, however, not arboreal, but are usually to be met with on the 
ground or on low bushes, and are said to be to some extent crepuscular. All the species appear to> 
have a harsh and discordant note, as is the case with their near relatives the Bee-eaters. 
The Ground-Rollers and Pitta-Rollers are said to nest in holes in the ground or amongst the 
roots of old trees, and to deposit white eggs slightly marked; but all the other species nest in 
hollow trees, not making any nest, but depositing their pure white glossy eggs on the debris at the 
bottom of the nest-hole. 
Full particulars, so far as they are known, respecting the habits &c. of the various species will 
be found in the body of the work. 
The Rollers are essentially representative species of the Old World, none occurring in the 
Nearctic or Neotropical Regions, and, like the Bee-eaters, most of the species are confined to the 
Ethiopian Region. Thus, out of the twenty-six known species, eighteen inhabit that Region, and of 
these seventeen are peculiar to it. In the Palsearctic Region this family is but poorly represented, as 
only one species, Coracias garrulus, inhabits the western portion and one, Burystomus orientalis, the 
eastern portion, a third, Coracias indicus^ being a rare straggler to the extreme south-eastern portion 
of the Western Palsearctic Region. The Indian Region is inhabited by three species of Coracias and 
one Eurystomus ; and the Australian Region by one of Coracias and four of Eurystomus, all of which 
are restricted to this Region, The genera Bracliypteracias, Atelornis^ and Leptosoinus are confined 
exclusively to the Ethiopian Region. 
In the subjoined Table (p. xx) I give the precise distribution of the different species of Rollers. 
