Oriental Rollers. 
193 
denotes, but they are by no means a numerous breed, even in the place of their nativity. The 
majority, however (in their pure and uncrossed state), are to be found in parts of Turkey, Greece, 
and far away into the interior of Asia Minor, at which places they are held in the highest esteem, 
as ‘ top fliers ’ or ‘ leaders ’ of large flights, which are generally a mixed or miscellaneous 
composition of non-tumbling birds, above which they delight to soar for hours together. 
Fig- 45— Oriental Rollers. 
“ The illustration represents a Black and an Almond-feathered bird ; the former kind, which 
are perhaps the most numerous, are of a deep, glossy black, beautifully resplendent with iridescent 
hues, more especially when under the influence of a bright light. This brilliant colouring is not 
confined to neck and breast, but extends, in matured specimens, throughout the entire body, 
similar, but in a less degree, to a good Archangel. It is somewhat singular to relate, that all the 
Blacks have white, or, rather, pale flesh-coloured, beaks, with a simple tip of black upon the point 
of the upper mandible. The Almond-feathered ones are not so rich or variegated as our 
‘Almond’ proper, but rather more closely resemble an ‘Almond Splash;’ the actual almond 
ground tint being altogether absent in some, and more or less apparent in others, but rarely so 
25 
