CINNAMON-BACKED ROLLER. 113 



splendid of the whole race; and, we doubt not, 

 but that many will think so. The exquisite lilac 

 reflections on the under plumage defy the painter s 

 art, while the rich cinnamon of the back admirably 

 contrasts with the full dark blue of the wings. 



We are seldom disposed to pass over a generic 

 name which has an undoubted right to priority, 

 provided it has no radical defect in its construction, 

 but no rule can be absolutely without exceptions; 

 and, in the present instance, Eurystomus is so very 

 expressive of one of the chief characters of this 

 group, that we are induced to give it the preference 

 over Colaris, the Greek name, as it has been al- 

 leged, of some unknown bird ; which, of course, 

 is as applicable to any other as to this group. 



It is one of the great defects of the Sy sterna Avium, 

 in many respects a valuable work, that its author is 

 continually uniting two or three species of the older 

 ornithologists under one specific name, not after 

 examination, but obviously, and often confessedly, 

 upon mere conjecture, without, in short, having 

 seen them. In the present instance, we find the 

 E. purpurascens and the rubescens of Yieillot set 

 down as the same species ; when, on perusing the 

 original accounts of each, no two can well be more 

 different. 



The size of this species, which seems not uncom- 

 mon in Senegal, is smaller than any of the preceding. 

 The bill is of a fine orange-yellow : the whole of 

 the upper plumage, including the shoulder and 

 lesser wing-covers 3 the scapulars, and part of the 



VOL. Tin. H 



