THE BLUE ROLLER
(Coracias garrulus)
AMONG the birds of brilliant plumage which occasionally straggle to the British Isles, one of the most gaudy is the blue roller, so called on account of its roling, or “rolling,” flight. In India this and an allied species are commonly called the blue jay, while in Poland the present bird is locally termed the Polish parrot. The roller has, however, nothing to do with either jays or parrots, but is more nearly related to the king-fishers.
Although the blue roller is practically an unmistakable bird—certainly so far as British species are concerned—it may be well to mention that the head, neck, wing-coverts, and under-parts are bright greenish blue, the back and shoulders cinnamon-brown, the flight-feathers blue at the roots and elsewhere black above and wholly deep blue beneath, the upper tail-coverts deep ultramarine, while the two middle tail-feathers are dirty brown, and the other feathers of the tail sky-blue, with the tips of the outer pair, which are somewhat lengthened, black. In size the bird is rather smaller than a crow.
The normal summer range of the species includes central and southern Europe, and thence extends through central Asia to Kashmir; while in winter it embraces India and the greater part of Africa. Northwards this bird is found as far as Scandinavia, although only occasionally; but its chief haunts in Europe are Spain, Portugal, Greece, Poland, and southern Russia. It makes its annual appearance in Europe towards the end of April, and takes its departure, like the cuckoo, not later than August. In Asia Minor, Persia, Baluchistan, India, and Ceylon it is replaced, except in winter (when both are found together), by the closely alliedCoracias indicus. A third species extends from the eastern Himalaya through Burma to Cochin China and Siam, a fourth inhabits Celebes, and quite a number are indigenous to Africa. In Australasia and the New World these birds are unknown.
Avoiding swampy localities and high mountains, the roller resorts to dry open districts with thin forest in which birch abounds, and where hollow oaks or beech are to be found. Here it prefers to dwell at the edge of the forest, where isolated trees grow in the fields and by the roadsides, and command a wide view of the country. In harvest-time it repairs to the sheaves in the cornfields.
The bird is, however, largely insectivorous, and from its perch in some tall tree sallies forth in search of all kinds of insects and other invertebrates as well as young frogs, while it will also eat field-mice. In their season figs afford it a much appreciated feast.
roller
In habits the roller is shy and unsociable, going about in pairs, and generally, but not always, shunning the vicinity of human habitations. Its flight is swift and undulating, and often limited to the passage from one tree-top to another. In fine weather, however, it indulges in the habit of tumbling when on the wing, and performs all kinds of aerial evolutions, sometimes falling from a considerable height almost to the ground; this last performance generally taking place during the pairing-season. At that season, when the males are in the company of the females, the former rise into the air with their characteristic harsh cry of “rak, rak, rak,” and descend again with a rapidly repeated “rak, rak, rak.” When at rest, the cry is a high-pitched, frequently repeated “raker, raker, raker.” It is from these cries that the bird derives its specified name, and likewise its German title ofblaurake.
In many parts of Europe the nest is built in the hole of a tree, but in the south is more generally placed in ruins, under the roofs of houses, in clefts in walls, or on cliffs and steep banks, in which deep holes are excavated for its reception. At the proper season it contains from five to six white eggs, which are brooded in turn by the male and female, and this so assiduously that it is often easy to capture the sitting bird with the hands. In laying white eggs, the roller conforms to the general rule of birds which nest in holes. It is, moreover, an uncleanly bird, and when the nest has contained young for some time, it gives out a most disgusting smell, while the young themselves sit in a mass of filth. Strange that such a beautiful bird should have such dirty habits!
As regards its mental powers, the roller is evidently highly developed; but its inherent shyness renders it unsuitable as a cage-bird. In disposition it is, as already mentioned, unsociable, and it will frequently quarrel with other birds and its own fellows. On the other hand, several pairs often nest near together, and its migrations are made in large companies.