Coracias garrula, Lnvn.
EOLLEE.
CORACIAS GARRULA, Linn.
Coracias garrula, Linn. S. N. i. p. 159 (1776); Naum. ii.
p. 158; Macff. iii. p. 540; Hewitson, i. p. 253; Yarr.
ed. 4, ii. p. 428; Dresser, v. p. 141.
Rollier, French; Mandelkrähe, Blauracke, German; Car-
lanco, Carraca, Spanish.
This brightly plumaged bird, although a rare visitor
to our country, is: exceedingly common in summer in
Spain and many other parts of Southern and Southeastern
Europe, becoming rarer towards the north of the
continent, but breeding sparsely in Sweden.
The food of the Roller consists almost entirely of
large beetles, grasshoppers, and other insects, which it
takes on wing and from the ground; the flight is
buoyant and well sustained, and the bird has a curious
habit of turning somersaults in the air somewhat in
the fashion of a “ tumbler” Pigeon, from which it has
derived its common English and French names.
The nests of this species are generally situated in
hollow trees, in holes or clefts of sandy cliffs and river-
banks, or not infrequently in the walls of abandoned or
even inhabited buildings. The eggs are glossy white,