105 



GREEN-NECKED ROLLER. 



Coracias Alyssinica, LATHAM. 



Front of the head and chin white ; head, neck, throat, and 

 body beneath, sea green ; bar k and quill-covers femigineous ; 

 lesser wing-covers, quills, and rump, ultramarine blue ; tail 

 forked. 



Coracias Abyssinica, Latham, Tnd. Orn. i. 169 ; Rollier d'Abes- 

 sinea, PI. Enl. 626. Abyssinian Roller, Lath. Genl. Synop. 

 i. 404 ; Gen. Hist. iii. 76 ; Coracias caudata, Wagler's Sp. 

 Avium, No. 2 Coracias albifrons, SJtaw 9 Genl. Zod. 7, 2, 

 392. 



THE Rollers have many characters in common with 

 the bee-eaters, like them they feed upon the wing, 

 and, as we believe, subsist almost entirely on insects ; 

 for this purpose the gape of their mouths is exces- 

 sively wide, so that they may swallow their prey 

 whole. Their colouring is most splendid, consisting 

 almost entirely of different shades of green, blue, and 

 cinnamon-brown, the latter of which is usually called 

 ferrugineous or bright rust colour. All the species 

 are confined to the warm latitudes of the Old World, 

 and only one migrates to the colder countries of 

 Europe during our summer. 



The species of Roller most common in Senegal is 

 that which by some singular chance has been called 

 the Abyssinian, while that which has been named 



