The SANGROK (_Nyctiornis Athertonii_) is bright green on the mantle, and
of a creamy yellow on the under side; the feathers on the crown of the
head and chin, and the edges of the dark blueish green neck-feathers are
light blueish green; the eye is deep yellow; the beak lead grey, tipped
with black; and the feet deep green. This bird is fourteen inches long,
and eighteen broad; the wing measures five inches and a half, and the tail
six inches.
We learn from Hodgson and Jerdon that the Sangrok occupies the extensive
forests of India to an altitude of three or four thousand feet above
the sea, and that it leads a solitary life among the trees, from and
around the branches of which it obtains the bees, wasps, beetles, and
grasshoppers that constitute its principal food. The cry of this species
is loud and harsh. According to the natives its eggs are deposited in
holes of trees.
* * * * *
The ROLLERS (_Coracii_) are a race of tolerably large birds, for the
most part remarkable on account of the variety of their colours, and the
splendour of their plumage. All of them belong to the Eastern Hemisphere.
As the leading features whereby this group is distinguished, we may
enumerate their moderate-sized, or moderately long beak, which is strong
and nearly straight, somewhat broad at its base, but compressed towards
the tip, sharp-cutting at the edges, and bent down at the point; the
legs are short and feeble, and the toes short. The wings are of moderate
length, or long and tolerably broad. The tail is of medium length,
sometimes truncate at its extremity, sometimes slightly rounded, and
sometimes forked; occasionally, moreover, the two outer feathers are much
longer than the rest. The plumage is somewhat harsh and rough, and the
shafts of the feathers stiff. The predominant colours are green, blue,
cinnamon-brown, and claret-red. The sexes differ but little, and the young
very much resemble their parents.
[Illustration: THE AUSTRALIAN BEE-EATER (_Cosmäerops ornatus_).]
These birds generally inhabit dry, flat country, and are met with
extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa, but are scarce in
Australia. Their usual residence is some solitary tree or high rock from
which they can command an extensive field of vision, and in the holes
and clefts of which they can build their nests. In such places they may
generally be seen on the look-out for insects, which they catch and devour
much in the same way as the Bee-eaters; at times they will dart down upon
some poor mouse that happens to approach them too nearly, and occasionally
they will snap up a lizard or other small game of that description, and
will plunder a bird's nest in order to devour the young; but although
they thus generally live on animal food, at certain seasons they have
no objection to a vegetable diet, and will eat fruit. The flesh of some
species is palatable, and they are consequently much sought after in some
countries, either as food or on account of the beauty of their feathers.