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Show 550 MR. R. B. SHARPE ON THE [June 17, Genus EURYSTOMUS, Vieill., 1816. The Broad-billed Rollers inhabit Africa, Madagascar, and the greater part of the Indian and Australian regions. One species ranges as high as Manchuria and Eastern Siberia. The habits of these birds differ considerably from those of the true Rollers (Coracias). They affect the forests rather than the open country, and are of a sluggish nature during the daytime, becoming active in pursuit of food in the morning and evening only. A curious consensus of opinion is expressed by writers on Indian ornithology that thero is only one species of Eurystomus occurring within Indian limits, and that specimens from the Malay Archipelago are identical with those from the Indian Peninsula; but after a careful examination of the series in the H u m e Collection, there appears to be no doubt that there are three Indian species, each with well-defined characters and a definite range. Key to the Species. a. Terminal half of tail entirely black, not shaded with purplish blue. a'. Larger; under surface decidedly greenish; head brownish black; secondaries black with no blue shade externally orientalis, p. 550. b'. Smaller; under surface decidedly blue; head black; secondaries black, washed with purplish blue near the base of the outer web Icetior, p. 551. b. Terminal half of the tail black, but conspicuously washed with purplish blue calonyx, p. 551. 1. EURYSTOMUS ORIENTALIS. Coracias orientalis, Linn. S. N. i. p. 159 (1766). Eurystomus orientalis (Linn.), Steph. Gen. Zool. vii. p. 403 (1809); Horsf. & M. Cat. i. p. 121 (1854); Hume, S. F. ii. p. 164 (1874); Blyth & Wald. B. B. p. 72 (1875); H u m e & Davison, S. F. vi. p. 72 (1878); Hume, Cat. no. 126 (pt.); Oates, B. B. ii. p. 70 (1883). Coloration. Bluish green, the wing-coverts and scapulars a little brighter than the back, as also the inner secondaries; head blackish brown, the hind neck, sides of head, and sides of neck brown and washed with green ; under surface of body greenish blue, duller on the fore neck and chest; the throat violet-blue, each feather with a mesial streak of brighter blue; primary-coverts black, with a narrow edging of purplish blue ; quills black, the primaries purplish blue at the base, followed by a subbasal band of silvery blue, which is again succeeded by a purplish shade ; most of the secondaries entirely black, some of the inner ones with a slight edging of purplish blue; tail black, with a purplish and blue shade near the base. Bill, legs, and feet dull vermilion, the tip of the bill black; iris dark brown ; gape yellowish. ' • Length about 11-5 inches, tail 4*1, wing 7'4, tarsus 0-65, bill from gape 1-45. |