212 



ROLLERS. 



dry ditches are excavated by its feet, in which two out of the three front toes 

 arc united together, having only the terminal joint free. The hole runs into 

 the bank some eight inches or a foot, forming a winding gallery, rounded at 

 the bottom and terminating in a sufficiently wide lodging, lined with pliant 

 fibres, dry moss, and cotton. In this retreat four or five grey-brown spotted 

 eggs are laid, and the young are fed till they are fully fledged. Mr. Gossc 



Fig. 112.— The Green '^o-as {Todits 



observes that the inhabitants of Jamaica are not in the habit of domesticating 

 many of the native birds, else this is one of the species that would become 

 a favourite pet. In a state of liberty it attracts the admiration of the most 

 unobservant, and an European is charmed with it. As it sits on a twig in the 

 verdure of spring, its grass-green plumage is sometimes undistinguishable 

 from the leaves in which it is embowered ; itself looking like a leaf, a little 

 change of position bringing its throat into the sun's rays, the light suddenly 

 gleams from it as from a glowing coal. Occasionally, too, this crimson gorget 

 is puffed out into a globose form, when it might easily be mistaken for a beau- 

 tiful fruit. 



