176 THE FOOD OF BIRDS IN INDIA. 



utter a grating note on approach to nest and again on entering 

 or leaving the nest. 



I have never heard the Indian Hoopoe utter the typical ' hoop* 

 note on the ground. Some species do so according to Evans. 



Nests of hoopoes casually watched for an odd minute or so, 

 have never shown otherwise than that the young are fed on larvae 

 and crickets (perhaps occasionally larvae of grasshoppers). Mole 

 crickets (Gryllotalpa africana) are undoubtedly fed, as also the 

 Berwa. (Schizodactylus monstrosus.) 



A young hoopoe kept for some days would eat almost any 

 caterpillar given it. It did not touch moths, even when bodies 

 only were fed, but took crickets readily. 



ANISODACTYLI. (Summary). 



CoracicB or Rollers number only four species of which the 

 Blue Jay is the only generally distributed one. It occurs through- 

 out India, not, however, being found in the hill tracts and is re- 

 placed by C. affinis in the East. The Broad-billed Roller is from 

 Burma and the eastern portion of India, while the European 

 Roller is a winter migrant to the Punjab and the North-West. 



The Rollers are almost entirely insectivorous and are bene- 

 ficial. 



The Meropes or Bee-eaters are all with one exception found 

 on the plains, two species only being, however, of general occurr- 

 ence. Their food is entirely of insects, but at present we cannot 

 definitely state their value. Those species of which we have any 

 records of value appear to be injurious, as they take by far more 

 beneficial insects than injurious ones. 



Halcyones or Kingfishers. Some six or seven species are re- 

 corded from the plains, others being confined to frll tracts and the 

 Malayan region. One or two are salt water species. They feed 

 very largely on fish, while some take a variety of insects mostly 

 of large species, such as locusts. The only damage likely to occur 

 from the sub-order is with the purely fish-eating species, which at 



