39 ROLLERS The Rollers were formerly classed with the Jays by ornithologists who named them as Blue Jays; but they have now been separated and placed in a separate family of birds. In India also both Rollers and Jays appear to have been regarded as an allied group, going under the common name of . Sanskrit nomenclature for both has, therefore, been considered in Art 1-E. 40 THE BEE-EATERS (शाङ्क:) 1. The Bee-eaters with their bright green, blue, bronze, and chestnut plumage are among "the most resplendent birds of the world" and their place in the Fauna of British India (Birds) is between the Rollers (T:) and the Kingfishers (:). All of them have about the same habits. They feed on insects including bees and even wasps which they capture in the air and after each sally return to their perch, uttering pleasant whistling notes on the wing. A party of them hawking insects over water is a pretty sight indeed. They often live in colonies and excavate almost horizontal tunnels about two inches in diameter and several feet long in the banks of rivers, streams, bridle paths, etc. and even on level ground, and it is at the far end of such a hole that a rounded chamber is made for eggs and young. Sometimes they utilize deserted rat holes as well.¹ 2. They are represented by no fewer than seven species in different parts of India and four of them, which are the subject of this article, occur within the territories called ब्रह्मषिदेश and मध्यदेश as defined in Manu-smrti, 2.19 & 21, i.e. from East-Punjab to about Allahabad, includ- ing the outer Himalayan valleys to the north and the Vindhyas to the south. The best known of the series is the Common Indian Bee-eater (9" long) known as पतिया (from पविन् 'arrow') in Hindi and वेदराघू (the 'Vedic or holy parrot'-'parrot' after its predominantly green colour) in Marathi. It is a "most elegant little bird" and with its predominantly green, bronze or gold, and chestnut plumage, a long, slender slightly cur- ved and pointed bill and the habit of catching its insect food on the wing from a perch on a tree or low bush, and its sweet 'tit tit' or 'tiree tiree tiree' call uttered on the wing it is easily identified. 3. The Blue-tailed Bee-cater is 12" in length and has a fully 2" long poin- ted bill. Though, like the Common Bee-eater, it is a plains species, it is partial to the neighbourhood of rivers, jheels and tanks. Its voice is a mellow rolling whistle or a chirp like 'teerp' or 'te tew, te tew' (cf. fe below). The Bearded Bee-cater, a magnificent bird, full 14" long, with a rather 1. G.F.L. Marshall in 'Birds' Nesting in India'. 2. पलिगा should be a semi तद्भव term fully comparable with शार्ग mentioned later.
