UPUPA EPOPS 57 



simply owing to the fact that the southern districts of that country 

 have been less visited by naturalists than the corresponding ones in 

 Algeria. 



From Marocco I have no note of the occurrence of this Bee-eater, 

 but it may possibly be found there south of the Atlas, as the species 

 appears to occur all along the West African coast, south of the 

 Empire. In Tripoli it probably also occurs, though I have no speci- 

 mens of it in my collection from that country. 



The Atlas Mountains no doubt form the northern boundary of its 

 range in North-west Africa, the few instances recorded of its occur- 

 rence further north being probably isolated cases of wanderers. 



According to various authorities, M. persicus arrives from the 

 south in spring, a little earlier than M. apiaster. 



In its general habits it appears to resemble that species to a 

 certain extent, though not entirely. Among other things it differs 

 from the common Bee-eater in constantly alighting on the ground 

 when in search of food, and in its flight is also somewhat different. 

 In its breeding habits, hovv^ever, it differs in no way from M. apiaster, 

 nesting in colonies, and placing its eggs in holes or tunnels in the 

 ground. The eggs are also of a glossy white, almost spherical, and 

 merely a trifle smaller than those of the preceding species. 



Family UPUPIDtE. 



UPUPA EPOPS, Linnaeus. 



HOOPOE. 



Upupa epops, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 183 (1766) ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. 

 Mus. xvi, p. i ; Malherbe, Cat. Bais. d'Ois. Alg. p. 17 (1846) ; Loche, 

 Expl. Sci. Alg. Ois. ii, p. 96 (1867) ; Koenig, J. f. 0. 1888, p. 169 ; 

 id. J. f. 0. 1892, p. 366 ; Whitaker, Ibis, 1894, p. 95. 



U. epops pallida, Erlangcr, J.f. O. 1900, p. 15. 



Description. — Adult male, spring, from Central Tunisia. 



Head, with a well-developed crest, light cinnamon, the foremost crest- 

 feathers broadly tipped with black, and the hindermost with white and 

 black ; sides of head, throat, breast and nape pale roseate-cinnamon ; upper 

 back grey ; lower back and scapulars black, broadly barred wiih pale butf ; 



