J Govldj, antL E CJtichter, del tX. hih*
c o b a c i a s
C. o ftACIAS GARS'
Roller.
Oalyuhu, Bra*. Ora *om. ii p. 64, pi. v. fig. 2.
_______ qarrvktt, V'wll Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxix. p. 428.
Coracias gernumicus. Rrtfetn, Vog. Deutschl., tom. i. p. 158.
planiceps, Brehm, ibid., p. 169.
— mrruius, Cab Mua. Hein., Theil ii. p. 117.
- . the avifauna of the British Islands is generally destitute o f the gorgeous hues which distinguish the
.... ,,f die tropics, still some three or four species conspicuous for the heauty o f their plumage either reside
anii ■ pay us occasional visits. The Holler is one o f them ; and but few of the birds of the torrid zone are
,. ; .,Py attired, or more striking in appearance. That the clear blue skies and the pure atmosphere of
, continent are more in harmony with the tints which adorn this hird than the humid, uncertain,
and fomn climate of onr islands cannot be denied ; and it is in the countries across the Straits that it is
, frwqiteutfo b len d ; still we have been, and probably ever shall be, favoured with its occasional visits,
the recorded instances of which, from the Land’s End to the northernmost part of Scotland, are already very
numerous mis In land been unvisited by this fine bird ; for Thompson informs us that the late " Mr. R.
Bidl when walking through the demesne a t Carton, the seat of the Duke o f Leinster, in the middle o f September
1831, had his attention attracted by a bird pursued by a great number of Hooks, which, instead of
flying off to avoid, continued for a considerable time to dash into the midst of them, apparently for the soke
only of annoyance- From the size, brilliant plumage, and singular flight of this bird, my friend was satisfied
that it was a Roller." Thompson was told of another being shot in the county of Sligo, and a third in the
south of Ireland ; but adds, •• as yet no example of the bird unquestionably killed in this island has to my
knowledge come under the inspection of the naturalist.” In Mr. Rodd's ' List of Cornish Birds it is stated
that a specimen had been seen near the Laud’s End, and that a female shot at St. Le
t «flection. I might continue to cite instances of its capture from this end o f England to the Orkneys, were
it worth while to do so ; hut such notices may be found in many, if not all, the works treating on our native
la sts, from Bewick to Macgillivray. As recently as the months of May and June 1805 I received three notes
, . ‘______ __• n —., -Vsi-c annrii»r tu Vs<tPY and a third a<*N*t *w acr»*o»t# of its appearance, one in Devonshire, another » tvssex, <inu in Dumfriesshire.
-, am Mr t .arrondie states, was killed by a farmer’s boy on Spriddlescombe Farm, near Plymouth, the
urumrity nf J .H . Kccles, Esq. ; on dissection this proved to be a male, and its stomach contained the remains
l beetles and the skins of several long whitish grubs or caterpillars : s female was seen 111 its company, hut
■ ■ ■ „blamed The Essex bird, Mr. Travis o f Saffron Walden informed me, was shot on the 17th of
Mas liv die gamekeeper of 0 . Sanders, Esq., o f Little CI.eslcrfi.rJ Park ; this was a male bird, and just
before 'it was shot had been sncking an egg. The bird observed ¡»Dumfriesshire, I learn by a note from
!hr William Jardine, was seen during the previous November by the keeper ot Mr. Yonstonn, of Tortherwold
flying about a thorny hedge ; it could not be approached within shooting-distance ; bat its remains were
»norwards found, and the wings and tail sent to Sir William. This poor straggler from a foreign land was
evwtasdv bewildered, and should have been in a more southern climate at that period ; for be it known that
:/ ¡.¡„j is strictlv migratory in all parts o f Europe, and is only found there in summer, as in autumn it
rn -s e s the Mediterranean for the more congenial climate of Africa, where insect food is abundant, and a
ifpma) *'in reigns, under which it may preen its beautiful feathers.
Mr Stevenson after enumerating the numerous instances o f the occiirrenc*
rem a rk .— “ The earliest record, however, is coatained in the following remarkable note by Sir Thomas
Brew.« made just two hundred years a g o : - -O n the 14th of May, 1(104, a .f r y rare hird was sent me,
killed at Crostwich, which seemed to he some kind o f Jay.’ After giving a description which proves that
ihc bird was a Boiler, Sir T . Browne assigns to it the name o f Gurmlus A rgm tn n ta u u .
During the summer months the Roller is found in many parts of Spain, Italy, Germany, and Turkey, to
die eastward of which country it proceeds as far as Afghanistan and Cashmere : but I have not vet seen
specimens from India proper, though Mr. Jerdon states that it is now and then found in its north-western
•• About the wooded hills that skirt the elevated plains of the Eastern Atlas,” says Mr. Salvui. the Roller
may not unfrequently be met with. In these districts it breeds in the month of May,
isisition of its nest a hollow in a tree, and usually preferring one that luis u side entrance.