76 ROLLER. 



6— ABYSSINIAN ROLLER. 



Coracias Abyssinica, Ind. Om. i. 1G9. Gm. Lin. i. 379. Daud. ii . 260. 

 — — — — albifrons, Shaw's Zool. vii. 392. 

 Rollier d'Abyssinie, Buf. iii. 143. PL enl. 626. 

 Sheregrig, Bruce's Trav. App. pi. in p. 182. 

 Abyssinian Roller, Gen. Syn. i. 404. 



LENGTH eighteen inches. Head, to beyond the eyes, white ; 

 the rest of the head, neck, and wing coverts, fine green ; shoulders, 

 quills, and rump blue ; back, and second quills orange brown ; tail 

 as in the last described, and the general colours of the bird very 

 brilliant. 



Inhabits Abyssinia, and seems to vary but little from the Senegal 

 Species, and perhaps not sufficiently distinct from the two preceding. 

 Mr. Bruce calls this Sheregrig, and the Senegal one is named 

 Shagarag, which appears to be the Barbary name for Rollers in 

 general, therefore ought not to be appropriated to one species. 



A. — Length, to the end of the shorter tail feathers, eight inches, but 

 to that of the exterior ones three inches and a half more. Bill dusky . 

 head, neck, and breast pale ferruginous, or testaceous brown, with 

 paler streaks ; back black, or very dark brown ; from the breast, all 

 the under parts and thighs fine blue; wing coverts the same, but 

 black down the middle ; the middle of the wing pale blue ; quills 

 deep blue, within black, the outer margins more or less pale blue • 

 tail pale blue, the feathers two inches and a half in length, except 

 the outmost on each side, which is three inches longer ; legs dusky 

 yellow. From the drawings of Mr. Woodford. 



B.— One, similar to this, in the collection of General Davies, had 

 the head and neck, to the breast, pale greenish grey, the feathers 



