THE BLUE-JAY. 93 



borrow, are very sedentary birds, waiting till they^ 

 see some small live thing and then pouncing upon it, 

 instead of actively hunting about. As to the quality 

 of the game they are not very particular, for, as I have 

 proved with a captive bird, they will eat and digest 

 toads, which are a good deal too much for some birds' 

 insides. The Roller throws up the hard parts of its 

 food in quids or pellets, like many other insectivorous 

 birds. Young Rollers are ugly little creatures at 

 first, being quite naked, but when the feathers 

 have grown enough to cover the body they are very 

 pretty, their plumage, with the wings and tail banded 

 with Oxford and Cambridge blue, being like that of 

 their parents ; for, unlike many brilliant birds, the 

 Indian Roller has a common livery for all ages and 

 both sexes. The large dark eyes also do not change 

 with age, and give the young birds a singularly 

 innocent appearance, which rather belies their real 

 disposition ; for they are greedy little creatures, and 

 when Irangry will fight violently over their food ; 

 although I have seen a youngster which I had filled 

 up kindly present an extra piece to a brother fledgling. 

 Young Rollers are quite easy to rear if fed on raw 

 meat and cockroaches, and will grow up very tame. 

 But they are not interesting pets, for in a small cage 

 they beat and break their beautiful plumage, and 

 in an aviary sit still so much that they are not a very 



