326 THE ROLLER. 



the walks of Pamphili Doria resound with the sweet notes of the 

 nightingale both day and night; and, from February to mid-July, 

 the thrush and blackbird pour forth incessant strains of melody. 



There stands in this enclosure a magnificent grove of stone pines, 

 vast in their dimensions, and towering in their height. Here the 

 harmless jackdaw nestles, here the hooded crow is seen, here the 

 starling breeds in numbers, and here the roller, decked in all the 

 brilliant plumage of the tropics, comes to seek his daily fare. But, 

 as far as I could perceive, after two seasons of observation, he does 

 not make his nest in the trees. Holes in lofty walls, and in stately 

 ruins, are the favourite places for his nidification. The cradle 

 plumage of his young displays the metallic colours of after-life ; 

 hence there is no perceptible difference in the appearance of the 

 adult male and female. After passing the summer months in Europe, 

 he returns to Africa at the autumnal equinox. 



The aerial movements of this bird put one in mind of our own 

 rook, when in the act of shooting downwards from on high. He 

 rises perpendicularly, and then descends in rapid zigzag evolutions, 

 during which process, if you get betwixt the sun and him, you have 

 a magnificent view of his lovely plumage. His voice has something 

 in it of the united notes of the jay and magpie. 



Innovations in modern ornithology, so prolific of scientific con- 

 fusion and unimportant distinctions, have removed this bird from the 

 family of Pie, where it had had a place from time immemorial ; thus 

 rendering useless its most ancient name of Pica marina. 



It was known in the time of the Romans. Picus in auspiciis avis 

 observata Latinis; and it was also admitted into heathen mythology. 

 Virgil alludes to the beautiful colours in its wing ; and above two 

 thousand years ago, when the gods used to change men into other 

 animals, just as easily as we now-a-days change our Acts of Parliament, 

 the Pica marina was both king and horsebreaker, equum domitor. He 



throated mergansers, common wrens, common gold-crested wrens, splendid 

 golden-crested wrens, house sparrows, mountain sparrows, mountain sparrows 

 with yellow speck on the throat, olive-throated bunting, crested grebes, Canary 

 birds, hoopoes, rollers, bee-eaters, golden orioles. Add to this list butcher's 

 meat of all descriptions, and the finest fruits and vegetables and flowers. 



N.B. If a man cannot get fat in this city at a very moderate expense, it must 

 be his own fault. 



