472 Mr. D. A. Bannerman on the [Thh, 



A very Rare Visitor to the islands. 



Tliere are only two records of this species. 



Cabrera notes that he shot a specimen in May at Laguna 

 (Catiilogo, p. 38). He does not mention the year in wliich 

 his bird was obtained. 



Meade-Waldo notes that Merops persicus occurred at 

 Laguna on the 25tli of April, 1890, when there was a great 

 influx of migrants (Ibis, 1890, p. 429). 



It is possible tliat tlie Persian Bee-eater wliich has 

 occurred in the Canaries was the typical form; there is^ 

 however, another race, M. p. chrysocerciis (type locality : 

 Senegal), which might conceivably have visited the Archi- 

 pelago. Until specimens are examined the bird is best 

 named binomially. 



Range. The typical Persian Bee-eater is fonnd throughout 

 the greater part of Africa. 



Family Upupid.e. 

 Upupa epops epops. Hoopoe. 



Upnpa epops Linn. Syst. Nat. 10th ed. 1758, p. 117 — 

 Type locality : Sweden. 



A Partial Resident. 

 Hub. in Arcliipelayo. 



Western Group : Gran Can aria, Tenerife, Pal ma, 



Gomera, Hierro. 

 Eastern Group : Fuerteventura, Lanzarote. 

 Outer islets : Graciosa, Allegranza. 

 The Hoopoe is the first bird in my list which I place under 

 the heading of a Partial Resident; though a resident and 

 breeding bird in nearly all the islands, its numbers are 

 augmented by fresh arrivals from the continent at certain 

 seasons. 



This species is one of the most difficult of all the Canarian 

 avifauna to deal with satisfactorily. 



In the first place I have been unable to distinguish 

 between the various forms descril)ed from the Canaries, and 

 agree with Dr. Hartert in his conclusions. Considerable 

 variation is certainly shown, and there may eventually prove 



