( 101 ) 

 HOOPOE. 



UPUPA EPOPS LINN. 



Description. — Length twelve inches. 



" Bill blackish, flesh colorod at the 

 base of both mandibles. Feet black. 

 Iris brown." 



" Crest rufous fawn, all the feathers 

 with black tips, and on the longest 

 feathers the rufous passes into pure 

 white before the end is reached ; the 

 sides of the head, chin, neck all around, 

 and breast varying from sandy to pale 

 rufous with a vinous tinge ; upper back 

 and wings along forearm light brown, 

 then a black band, followed by a buify 

 white one, crosses the wings and back, 

 with a second black and a second white 

 band on the wings, but the lower back 

 is black or brown ; the rump is white ; 

 upper tail coverts black, and the tail 

 black with a white bar across it 

 half way down ; quills black, the first 

 primary usually with a white spot on 

 the inner web, the other primaries with 

 a white band across them, while the 

 secondaries have white bases and four 

 white bands, and the abdomen is white 

 with dark brown streaks in the front." 



Eange. — Europe, Africa, and Asia. 



Nest and Eggs. — "Although such 

 beautiful birds, their nesting habits are 

 such as to make them at this time 

 anything but attractive. They select a 

 cavity, preferably a tree, but occasional- 

 ly in fissures in rocks or the sides of 

 banks or walls, this being rather 

 slightly lined with grass, feathers or 

 hair. In China, they have been known 

 to nest in holes in exposed Chinese 

 coffins, whence they are called cofifiu- 

 birds. The female sits very close and 

 is fed by the male, and as the droppings 

 are not removed by the old birds the 



