Indian Roller
Coracias benghalensis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Photo © By Amitgera10 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49602234
STATUS
Eurasia and the Oriental Region. Polytypic.
OVERVIEW
Species not admitted nationally (BOU 1971).
NOT PROVEN
0). 1883 Lincolnshire Muckton, first-winter, shot, 27th October.
(J. Cordeaux, Zoologist 1884: 185; J. Cordeaux, Ibis 1891: 147-149).
[J. Cordeaux, Zoologist 1891: 364; Lorand & Atkin, 1989].
History J. Cordeaux (1884) in The Zoologist, 3rd series, Vol. VIII. p. 185, says: '1883. An interesting capture for Lincolnshire was that of the Roller, shot on October 27th, at Muckton, near Louth. I saw this bird shortly after at Mr. Kew's, the birdstuffer's, and conjecture from the generally dingy appearance of the plumage that it was a bird of the year.'
John Cordeaux of Great Cotes (1891) in The Ibis, Vol. III. 6th series, pp. 147-149, dated 9th October 1890, says: 'I have recently obtained an English-killed example of Coracias indicus, an adult, shot at Muckton, near Louth, in this county [Lincolnshire], on Oct. 27, 1883, by a cottager. The bird was perched at the time on a heap of manure. It was received in the flesh by a local taxidermist, in whose shop I saw it shortly afterwards, during the time he was setting it up. It was closely bound with coarse cotton-thread over slips of wood to keep the feathers in position when drying.
The occurrence was recorded in the Migration Report for 1883, p. 47, and in the Zoologist, 1884, p. 185, but erroneously there as Coracias garrulus, the colour of the breast and back, so far as these could be examined, leading me to think that it was probably an immature example of that species. Without going into further details, I may say there is perfectly satisfactory evidence that the bird was obtained as described, and that there is no possibility of its having been exchanged for any foreign skin of a Roller; there are also no indications of its having been an escaped bird. Both Professor Newton and Mr. Dresser, who have seen and kindly examined our Lincolnshire bird, agree that it is undoubtedly C. indicus.'
J. Cordeaux (1891) in The Zoologist, 3rd series, Vol. XV. p. 364, says: 'Indian Roller, Coracias indicus, Linn. - 1883, Nov. 6th, one shot at Muckton, near Louth and erroneously recorded at the time as Coracias garrulus, Linn. (Zool., 1884, p. 185); subsequently, in September, 1890, when the bird was purchased by me, as C. indicus (The Ibis, 1891, pp. 147-8), Museum of Zoology, Cambridge.'
Comment Misidentified - Indian Roller. Not acceptable.
