THE EIGHTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.THE ROLLERS (Coraciadæ).
These birds constitute a family of birds which are strictly denizens of the Old World, and are remarkable for their bright plumage. The vernacular name of Roller is given to them from their habit of mounting or “rolling” in the air. Canon Tristram, in describing the habits of the European species (Coracias garrula) in Palestine, writes as follows:—“On the 12th of April I reached Ain Sultan(Jericho) alone, and remained there in solitude for several days, during which I had many opportunities of observing the grotesque habits of the Roller. For several successive evenings, great flocks of Rollers mustered shortly before sunset on somedômtrees near the fountain, with all the noise but without the decorum of the Rooks. After a volley of discordant screams, from the sound of which it derives its Arabic trivial name of ‘Schurkrak,’ a few birds would start from their perch, and commence a series of somersaults overhead, somewhat after the fashion of Tumbler Pigeons. In a moment or two they would be followed by the whole flock, and these gambols would be repeated for a dozen times or more. Every where it takes its perch on some conspicuous branch or on the top of a rock, where it can see and be seen. The bare tops of the fig-trees, before they put forth their leaves, are, in the cultivated terraces, a particularly favourite resort. In the barren Ghor I have often watched it perched unconcernedly on a knot of gravel or marl in the plain, watching apparently for the emergence of beetles from the sand. Elsewhere I have not seen it settle on the ground. Like Europeans in the East, it can make itself happy without chairs and tables in the desert, but prefers a comfortable easy-chair when it is to be found. Its nest I have seen in ruins, in holes in rocks, in burrows, in steep sand-cliffs, but far more generally in hollow trees. The colony in the Wady Kelt used burrows excavated by themselves; and many a hole did they relinquish, owing to the difficulty of working it. But so cunningly were the nests placed under a crumbling treacherous ledge, overhanging a chasm of perhaps one or two hundred feet, that we were completely foiled in our siege. We obtained a nest of six eggs, quite fresh, in a hollow tree in Bashan, near Gadara, on the 6th of May. It is noticed by Russell among the birds of Aleppo.” The colour of the Common Roller is very beautiful, and we can well understand the significance of the Turkish name “Alla Carga,” or Beautiful Crow. The back is pale cinnamon-brown; the wing-coverts pale blue, excepting those on the edge of the wing, which are rich ultramarine; the quills brownish-black, deep ultramarine underneath; the secondaries with more blue on the outer web; the forehead white; the crown of the head and back of the neck pale blue; the lower back and rump ultramarine; the upper tail-coverts greenish-blue; the tail blackish-brown, the feathers blue at the base, the two centre feathers dull green; cheeks and throat pale blue, streaked with silvery blue; the under surface of the body pale greenish-blue. The total length is twelve inches. One curious feature about the European bird is that the outer tail-feather tends towards a point at the tip, as if there was an inclination to become elongated; and in Africa there is a species which actually differs from the European Roller only in having the outer tail-feathers elongated to an extent of several inches.
In Madagascar, that wonderful island which produces so many peculiar forms of bird life, there are found the Ground Rollers (Atelornis), extraordinary birds which live entirely on the ground, and only come out at dusk. Their flight is said by M. Grandidier to be very weak, so that the birds are never found above the lowest branches. They are rather local in their habitat, but where they do occur seem not to be uncommon. The Cyrombo Roller (Leptosoma discolor) is also a native of Madagascar, and has at first sight much the appearance of a Cuckoo, of which family of birds it was for many years considered to be a member. The head is extremely large in this bird, and the region of the nostrils densely plumed; but the latter, instead of being placed near the base of the bill, as in most Rollers, are situated nearly in the middle of the upper mandible. Messrs. Pollen and Van Dam give an interesting account of this bird in their notes on the “Birds of Madagascar”:—“The natives of the north-west of Madagascar give this bird the name of Cyrombo. It has the curious habit of hovering in the air, and uttering a very loud note, striking its wings against its body as it calls. This cry, resembling the syllablestu-hou,tu-hou,tu-hou, goes on increasing in force. Nowhere have we found this bird in greater numbers than in the forests in the neighbourhood of the bays of Boény and Jongony, in the south-western portion of the island of Mayotte. The racket that they make during the whole journey is truly wearisome. Although very active as criers, these birds are lazy and stupid. As soon as they are perched on the branch of a tree, they remain, so to speak, immovable, and in perpendicular position, so that it is easy to see them and knock them over. When seen in this position, they look like birds impaled. We suppose that they live in polyandry, because one always sees three times as many males as females; often we have seen three males in company with one single female, and all allowed themselves to be killed one after the other. In fact, when one is killed, the others do not fly away, but content themselves with merely moving from one branch toanother. These birds live principally on Grasshoppers, but they devour also Chameleons and Lizards, which gives to their flesh a disagreeable odour, like that we observe in the Common Cuckoo. In preparing these birds we often found them with a species of large parasite of the family of the Ornithomyiæ, of a dirty green colour. We were never able to study the propagation of this bird; but while in Mayotte we saw an individual make a nest of rushes in the hole of a great ‘Badamier’ (Terminalia Catappa). These birds when they cry puff out the throat, so that this portion of the body has the appearance of a pendent bag. When wounded, they erect the feathers of the forehead and ears as well as those of the throat, all the while distributing well-aimed blows with the beak. The Cyrombo plays a great part in the chants and religious recitations of the Malagasy natives. The French colonists of Mayotte call this bird the ‘Parrot.’ It is common at Madagascar and Mayotte, and has, according to Mr. Sclater, been found in the island of Anjounan.”
BLUE ROLLER.
BLUE ROLLER.