OCR Text |
Show 1890.] CORACIID.E OF THE INDIAN REGION. 547 Anglo-Indians, and the Broad-billed Blue Roller, a much less familiar species. Key to the Genera. a. Bill long and slender, compressed, much longer than it is broad ° p _._ b. Bill stout and depressed,'as well a's slightly' hooked,'as °R " ^ P' broad at gape as it is high EURYSTOMUS, p. 550. On comparing the skulls of Coracias and Eurystomus the differences above noted will be found to be emphasized, the skull bein-everywhere broader and more massive, and especially remarkable for its very broad palatine bones. The nasal aperture is apparently linear in Coracias, and triangular in Eurystomus. As with other Picarian birds, the Rollers nest in holes of trees or buildings and lay white eggs. They get their name of » Roller " from their peculiar flight; but the broad-billed Eurystomi are more forest-loving, and by no means such birds of the open as the species of Coracias. Genus CORACIAS, Linnaeus, 1766. Three species of Coracias occur in the Indian Region, all of them well represented in Mr. Hume's collection. There appears to bo very little doubt that C. indica and C. affinis interbreed on the confines of their respective ranges, and this is probably one of the ' few absolutely indisputable instances of hybridization between birds taking place m a state of nature. Dr. Jerdon and Mr. Blyth also speak of the crossing of C. indica with C. garrula in the extreme JNo 1 rt 1 h"we8t' b u t I h a v e n o t seen any instance of this phenomenon exhibited in the H u m e series. Key to the Species. a. With a subterminal band of silvery blue on the quills. a'. Tail with a broad terminal band of purplish blue • upper ,, J ™ 0 ™ 1 " * 8 purplish blue, darker than the rump indica p 547 0 . lail with no terminal band, though occasionally a blackish ' spot at the end of the feathers is present; upper tail- A w-MC°V e r t S i g h t Silv,ery blue' paler t h a n the r u m P * affinis, p. 548 6. With no subterminal blue band on the quills, the basal part only being light; primary-coverts silvery blue; back light ay garrula, p. 549. 1. CORACIAS INDICA. The Lndian Roller. Coracias indica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 157; Blyth, Cat. p 5] • Horsf. & Moore, Cat. ii. p. 571; Jerd. B. I. i. p. 214; Gould B' Asia, i. pi. 54; Hume, Cat. no. 123; Legge, B. Ceyl. p. 281. Coloration. Base of forehead and lores sandy white ; head greenish blue, with a wash of bright blue over the eye; round the hind neck a collar of lilac-rufous; back drab, washed with oily green • lower back and rump bright blue ; upper tail-coverts purplish blue • wing-coverts greenish blue, as well as the base of the quills ; lesser coverts purplish blue; remainder of quills purplish blue, the primaries with a subterminal band of bright blue : inner secondaries |