ORNITHOLOGY. 233 



syn. DiccBitm minimum, BIyth. 



" Nectarinia minima, Tickell. 



" Certhia erythrorhyncha, Latham. 



HOOPOE. 



The hoopoe is one of the few birds that we have in 

 common with Europe, and which was well known to the 

 ancients. According to Grecian mythology, Tereus, king 

 of Thrace, was turned into a hoopoe, hoopoes having been 

 first seen on his monument ; and in some parts of Europe 

 it is regarded as a bird of omen. It is the lapwing of 

 Leviticus and Deuteronomy, in our received version. On 

 this Coast, as in other parts of the world, it appears to be 

 a bird of passage, for not one is seen in the rains, al- 

 though during the dry season, they show their arched, 

 buff-coloured crests in almost every garden in Maulmain. 

 Upupa epops. 

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WIDE-MOUTHED BIRDS. 



The Fissirostrcs, birds with a wide gape, embrace seve- 

 ral species of bee-eaters, rollers, kingfishers, trogons, 

 nighvjars, swallows, swifts, and swiftlets. 



GREEN BEE-EATER. 



The green bee-eater, a very handsome bird, is common 

 all oveAhe Provinces. The Karens call it the Mount 

 Meru bird, because it is supposed to dwell there during the 

 rainy season. 



31 crops viridis. 

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LARGE BEE-EATER, 



In Arracan there is a larger bee-eater. 

 Alcemerops Atliertonii. 

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ROLLER. 



The roller, often by a misnomer called the blue jay, is 

 diffused over all our compounds. The Burmese say that 

 the most precious sapphire is exactly the colour of the 



