506 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



^^^^^ (a feature strongly recalling the custom of the 

 Hornbills), and when the young are hatched 

 their faeces are not removed by their parents, as 

 is the case with most birds, but are discharged 

 in the immediate neighbourhood of the nest, the 

 unsanitary condition of which can readily be 

 imagined. Worms, grubs, and insects generally, 

 form the hoopoes' food, and upon it they get 

 so fat in autumn that they are esteemed a deli- 

 cate morsel in some of the countries of Southern 

 Europe, and especially by the Christian population 

 of Constantinople." 



Beside the EUROPEAN HOOPOE, which also ex- 

 tends into Northern Africa, four other species are 



Fhita by Sihelaitit Phtli. Co.] [Parjon , Grlrn 



HOOPOE known, three of which are African, whilst a fourth 



A rda^ of the Hornt:ii C om ma n in Euro?, ranges from India to Hainan. 



Nearly related to the birds we have just 



described are the WOOD-HOOPOES. They differ from their allies in being crestless, having a more 

 curved bill, and a plumage of metallic purple, with a white patch on the wings and white 

 markings on the tail. Their habits resemble those of their more highly coloured relatives. 



CHAPTER XIII 



BEE-EATERS, MOTMOTS, TODIES, COLIES, AND TROGONS 



IN the present chapter we deal with a number of birds of singular beauty and gracefulness. 

 In their coloration green predominates, thus recalling the Rollers, Parrots, Plantain-eaters, 

 and Kingfishers, all of which groups, as we have seen, contain a large proportion of 

 green species. 



The BEE-EATERS, like the Kingfishers, Hornbills, and Hoopoes, have a foot of quite peculiar 

 structure, the middle and outer toes being joined together throughout the greater part of 

 their length. They are an Old World group, ranging from the British Islands to Australia, 

 in the American Continent their place being taken by the Motmots and Jacamars, of which 

 we shall speak presently. They are especially plentiful in the African region, somewhat less 

 so in the Indian, the temperate regions of the Old World possessing but few species. 



On rare occasions one species visits the -British Islands. This is, furthermore, one of the 

 most beautiful of the group. It has the head, neck, upper back, and a broad wing-bar of 

 a ruddy-brown colour; the lower back buff colour; green wings and tail, with black tips to 

 the middle tail-feathers, which are longer than the rest. The forehead is pale green and white ; 

 the ear-coverts are black; and the throat bright yellow, divided from the greenish-blue tinder- 

 parts by a black band. " The name Bee-eater," writes Mr. Evans, " is well deserved, for in 

 Spain [it] is a perfect pest to the bee-keeper, catching the workers as they enter and leave 

 the hives." Like the Kingfishers, the indigestible parts of the food are cast up and deposited 

 around the eggs, though bee-eaters do not appear to form a nest of them, as with the Kingfishers. 



From four to six eggs of a beautiful glossy white colour are deposited in holes in banks, 

 or -and this is worthy of special notice in tunnels bored vertically downwards in level ground 

 for a distance of from 3 to 10 feet. How this is done is a mystery, for the bird's beak and 

 feet look by no means equal to such a task. No nest appears to be made, the eggs being 

 deposited at the extremity of the burrow without further preparation. Two species of the 

 group, however, are said to form an exception, constructing a nest of straw and feathers. 



