THE ROLLER 



Some modern writer-*, and exp,-ciall\ Mr. A. II Thavei. iii;iiiil;iin 



that even the most conspicuously coloured animals are really 

 " obliteratively " coloured. Of course there are some striking examples 

 in Nature, where an animal which seems, apart from its natural 

 surroundings, to be marked in such a way as to catch the eye at once, 

 becomes at once invisible in its natural environment. The well- 

 known and somewhat hackneyed example of the black striping on the 

 tiger's tawny hide will serve to illustrate this. But though it is easy 

 to go through the birds on the shelves of a museum, and elaborate a 

 theor\ Itv \\hich. under certain -i\en circumstances. e\en the most 

 brilliantly plumaged birds might be expected to become inconspicuous, 

 we find that in Nature this is not invariably the case. Let us take two 

 examples, the roller and the bee-eater. Both these birds, when closely 

 examined, are marvels of colouring the bee-eater with its hues of 

 burnished copper, and the roller with its wonderful contrasts of 

 cinnamon-brown, green, light azure, and deep indigo. But when 

 we reach the land of sunshine, and stand on the shores of the 

 Mediterranean and watch in the distance a flock of bee-eaters sailing 

 easily through the still air with liquid note, there is no blaze of 

 colour. Except for an occasional gleam, they might be almost at 

 soberly clad as our own song-thrushes. Of course, if you can get 

 close to a pair sitting side by side upon a telegraph wire till you are 

 only ten or fifteen yards away, then the wonderful yellows and 

 bronze of the plumage can be distinguished, but once they are on 

 the wing they rapidly become inconspicuous again. But with the 

 roller, exactly the reverse is the case. Far off a glimpse is caught of 

 a heavy headed corvine-looking bird, whose light colouring stands 

 out in contrast to the foliage of the ilex trees, and presently with 

 harsh note a bird about the size of a jay launches itself into the air, 

 and with rapid flaps of its azure wings makes for another dead 

 i>r. inch on a tree a hundred yards away. Anything more striking 

 can hardly be imagined : the bird forces itself on the attention of 

 the most indifferent Our little kingfisher is perhaps as brilliant, 



