94 BRITISH BIRDS. 



low skin, and behind them is a kind of wart ; the 

 head, neck, breast, and belly, are of a light pea 

 green ; the back and scapulars reddish brown ; the 

 ridge of the wings and upper coverts rich deep 

 blue ; the greater coverts pale green ; the quills 

 dusky, inclining to black, and mixed with deep 

 blue ; the rump blue ; tail somewhat forked ; the 

 lower parts of the feathers are dusky green, middle 

 parts pale blue, tips black ; the legs short and of a 

 dull yellow. 



This is the only species found in Europe; it is 

 very common in some parts of Germany, but so 

 rare in this country as hardly to deserve the name 

 of a British bird. The author of the British Zoology 

 mentions two shot in England, and these probably 

 were stragglers.* The above drawing was from a 

 stuffed specimen in the Wycliffe Museum. 



The Roller is wilder than the Jay, and frequents 

 the thickest woods; it builds chiefly on birch trees. 

 Buifon says it is a bird of passage, and migrates 

 in the months of May and September. In those 

 countries w T here it is common, it is said to fly in 

 large flocks in the autumn, and is frequently seen 

 in cultivated grounds, with Rooks and other birds, 

 searching for w r orms, small seeds, roots, &c. ; it 

 likewise feeds on berries, caterpillars, and insects, 

 and in cases of necessity, on young frogs, and even 

 carrion. The female differs very much from the 



* One of these birds was shot in Bromley-hope, near Bywell, in 

 May, 1818; and another near Dalton, in Furness, on the 26th of 

 May, 1827. Were it not for the strange and wicked propensity in 

 mankind to kill, there is no saying what the number of strange 

 visitants to this country might amount to, of birds, admirable for 

 the beauty of their plumage and song. 



