54 
Juv. corpore supr^ sordidiore et coloribus obscurioribus : corpore subtus sordide tlialassino^ gul4 lilacino tinct4 : alis 
et cauda sordidioribus^ hac tlialassino lavat4: rostro apice et culinine nigricantibus. 
Adult male (Madagascar).—Upper parts rich bright cinnamon ; lower rump washed with cobalt- 
blue, and the upper tail-coverts dull cobalt; quills black on the outer webs, washed with ultramarine- 
blue, the inner secondaries cinnamon, tinged with lilac; tail pale cobalt-blue, with the terminal 
portion black tinged with ultramarine ; underparts lilac-cinnamon; sides of the head washed with 
lilac; lower abdomen and thighs washed with greenish blue; under tail-coverts greenish blue: bill 
yellow ; legs greenish yellow; iris brown. Total length about 12 inches, gape 1*45, wing 8‘4, tail 5-0, 
tarsus O'S. 
Adult female (Madagascar).—Similar to the male, but if anything a trifle duller in colour. 
Total length about 11’5 inches, gape l-o5, wing 8-0, tail 4-5, tarsus 0-72. 
Juv. (Madagascar, March),—Upper parts darker and duller than in the adult, underparts dull 
blue-green, the throat tinged with lilac; wings and tail duller than in the adult, the tail tinged with 
green: bill blackish, except at the base of the lower mandible, which is yellow. 
Nestling (Antananarivo).—Differs from the young bird above described in having the wings 
and tail much duller, the quills being blackish, slightly washed with dull blue on the outer webs; 
underparts dull rufescent earth-brown, slightly washed with pale blue-green on the lower breast 
and abdomen; under tail-coverts pale greenish blue. 
The present species, which is a large representative of the common African Eurystomus q/er, inhabits 
Madagascar from October to March, after which, during the dry season, it leaves Madagascar and, 
according to Grandidier, passes that season on the east coast of Africa. It has also been obtained 
on the island of xinjuan, and, according to Sir Edward Newton (Ibis, 1863, p. 176), one was obtained 
by M. J. Desjardins on the Fran^oise river, Mauritius, late in November 1826, and deposited in the 
Mauritius Museum. Grandidier writes {1. c .):—“This Eoller does not remain the whole year in 
Madagascar, and seldom arrives before the month of October, as already noticed by one of us in 1867 
(Eev. et Mag. de Zool. 1867, p. 354), and it is then spread in bands on the coasts. They are especially 
numerous in the north-east and North-west. They leave after the rainy season, in the month of 
March, and the Sakalavas, who during the night frequently go out to fish for sea-turtles, hear them, 
during migration, passing, calling above their heads. During the dry season they are not found here, 
and then inhabit the east coast of Africa.” Sir Edward Newton obtained a specimen at Eanomafana 
and saw it also at Chasmanna, and Mr. Eoch states that he found this species very numerous in the 
thin forest close to the village of Earafata, about six miles to the north of Tamatave. 
In their habits they appear to assimilate closely with their African ally. Grandidier speaks of 
them as being somewhat wild, and says (1. c.) that “ they may often be seen perched, sometimes singly 
and sometimes in larger or smaller numbers, on the dead branch of a tree on the edge of a clearing. 
They remain for long quietly in the same place, looking round and waiting patiently for their prey, 
and directly they see it they dart on it, catching it in their large bill, and return to their perch. In 
the morning and evening they play about in the air, soaring in pairs above the trees. Their flight. 
