Coracias orientalis Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 12 (1766), 1, 159.
Eurystomus orientalis Hume, Oates ed., N. & E. Ind. Birds (1890),
3, 57; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1892), 17, 33, pl. 2, fig. 1;
Hand-List (1900), 2, 47; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1895), 3,
107, fig. 30 (head); McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 51.
Lo-ro in'-chic, Manila; lan-gac, Cagayancillo; ta-ga-tac, Calayan;
Sa-lac-sá-can, Ticao.
Bantayan (McGregor); Basilan (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns &
Worcester, McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Cagayancillo (McGregor);
Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester); Calayan (McGregor); Camiguin
N. (McGregor); Cebu (Everett, Bourns & Worcester); Cuyo (Meyer);
Dinagat (Everett); Fuga (McGregor); Guimaras (Meyer, Steere Exp.,
Bourns & Worcester); Leyte (Steere Exp., Everett, Whitehead);
Libagao (Porter); Luzon (Meyer, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns &
Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor); Maestre de Campo (McGregor &
Worcester); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (Steere Exp.,
McGregor); Mindanao (Steere, Murray, Everett, Koch & Schadenberg,
Steere Exp., Goodfellow, Celestino), Mindoro (Steere Exp.,
Schmacker, Everett, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor, Porter); Negros
(Steere, Layard, Everett, Steere Exp., Whitehead, Keay); Palawan
(Everett, Platen, Whitehead, Bourns & Worcester, White); Panaon
(Everett); Panay (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Romblon (Bourns
& Worcester); Samar (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead);
Sibutu (Everett); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester); Siquijor (Steere
Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Sulu (Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester);
Tablas (Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao
(McGregor); Verde (McGregor). Malay Peninsula, Burmese provinces,
Cachar, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, Andamans, and Nicobars.
Adult.--Forehead, crown, and sides of face black becoming dark
brown on occiput, neck, ear-coverts, and sides of neck; back, rump,
tail-coverts, scapulars, inner secondaries, and secondary-coverts
brown, washed with dull oily green; chin black with a small white
spot in the center; throat deep purplish blue with bright blue mesial
streaks; remainder of under parts greenish blue, becoming more intense
on crissum; primaries, outer secondaries, and rectrices glossy black,
marked more or less on both webs with deep purplish blue; a wide band
of light blue across middle of primaries; alula and primary-coverts
black, edged with deep purplish blue. Bill and legs bright red;
nails and tip of bill black. Length of a male, 280; wing, 180; tail,
96; culmen from base, 33; tarsus, 17. Length of a female, 266; wing,
190; tail, 104; culmen from base, 34; middle toe with claw, 29.
"Young.--Differs from the adult in being duller in color and in having
a black bill, and in wanting the bright blue patch on the throat,
which is greenish, a little duller than the abdomen." (Sharpe.)
"Sixteen specimens measure as follows: Length, 352; wing, 181; tail,
109; culmen, 24; tarsus, 17; middle toe with claw, 26. Usually seen
perching on some dead limb from which it flies in pursuit of insects,
soon returning to its perch. Often seen flying about actively just
after dark, like a night hawk." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
This roller is easily identified by its gaudy plumage, bright red
bill, and peculiar jerky flight; there is no other Philippine species
resembling it.
Suborder HALCYONES.
Family ALCEDINIDÆ.
Bill long, strong, and pointed, never hooked; culmen rounded or
slightly flattened, straight or nearly so; nostrils small, reached
by frontal feathers; wings and tail moderate, the latter slightly
rounded; tarsus short; feet weak; front toes more or less united. The
two subfamilies will not be considered here as their differences are
very slight.
Genera.
a1. Tail longer than culmen.
b1. Bill compressed; culmen flattened; a groove on each side
from nostril parallel to culmen; length of bird, 350 mm. or
more. ... Pelargopsis (p. 303)
b2. Bill little if at all compressed; culmen rounded; groove
parallel to culmen shallow or absent; length of bird, 300 mm. or
less. ... Halcyon (p. 318)
a2. Tail shorter than culmen.
b1. Toes four. ... Alcedo (p. 305)
b2. Toes three; forest inhabiting.
c1. Bill more slender and more compressed; the species usually
found near streams. ... Alcyone (p. 308)
c2. Bill stouter and less compressed; the species usually found
away from water in forest or in thickets. ... Ceyx (p. 311)
Genus PELARGOPSIS Gloger, 1842.
Large, length 300 mm. or more; bill bright red, very large and strong;
culmen flattened and perfectly straight; a well-marked groove on each
side of bill from nostril to near tip of bill, back and rump pale blue,
lower parts buff, tail much longer than bill.
Species.
a1. Back and wings deep ultramarine blue; lower back rich
cobalt. ... javana (p. 303)
a2. Back and wings bluish green; lower back greenish cobalt.
b1. Head, neck, and under parts rich deep ocherous. ... gouldi
(p. 304)
b2. Head whitish; hind neck and under parts pale
ocherous-buff. ... gigantea (p. 305)