1161 



UNONA. 



UPUPID.E. 



1163 



The fridinidce form the ninth family of the same order in Dr. Gray's 

 arrangement. 



Genera : fridina, Leila, Pleiodon, Syria, Castalia. (' Synopsis 

 Brit. Mus.') [NAIAD.E.] 



UNO'NA, a genus belonging to the natural order Anonacece, so called 

 from ' unus,' one, the stamens being united with the germeiis. The 

 generic character is, sepals 3; petals 6, the 3 inner the smallest; stamens 

 numerous ; carpels numerous, one* or many-celled ; many-seeded, seeds 

 in a single row. The species consist of trees, large shrubs, or climbing 

 plants, found in hot parts of the world, as India and its islands, Africa, 

 and South America. The bark and fruit of many of the species are 

 aromatic, with some degree of acridity, and are employed as stimu- 

 lating medicines or as condiments. 



V. sEthiopica, a native of Ethiopia and Sierra Leone, is a tree with 

 ovate-lanceolate leaves, which are also acute, smooth, and have the 

 under surface glaucous; it has roundish, torulose, nearly sessile carpels. 

 It has obtained more celebrity than other species, from being supposed 

 to be that which yields the seeds formerly well known under the name 

 of Etbiopic pepper, the 'Filfil-al-Soudan' of Arabian authors. They 

 have been also called Guinea Pepper and Negro Pepper, in consequence 

 of their having been employed as a substitute for that condiment by 

 the negroes, from their aromatic and pungent taste. They must not 

 be confounded with the A<nornu.ni Granum Parodist, obtained also 

 from the west coast of Africa. 



U. aromatica, another species, which is a native of or introduced by 

 the negroes into Guyana, is however considered by some to be the 

 species yielding the- Negro Pepper. It has oblong, acuminate, and 

 smooth leaves ; peduncles axillary, 1-2-flowered; carpels oblong, terete, 

 torulose, nearly sessile. Every part of the plant is aromatic, and the 

 fruit is used as a condiment by the negroes of Guyana. 



I', wdulata, a native of Waree in Guinea, has aromatic fruit simi- I 

 larly employed. 



U. Narvm is one of the climbing species, a native of Malabar, which 

 Rheede describes as possessed of medicinal properties, the roots being 

 go used, as well as the sweet-scented greenish-coloured oil obtained 

 from them by distillation. 



U. mtuaria has been so called from its bark being used for making 

 musical instruments, as is indeed also that of the foregoing species. 

 This is a rambling shrub, a native of Amboyna, &c., the roots and 

 bark are also used medicinally. U. tripetala, U. uncinata, U. odorata, 

 4c., natives of the Indian islands, are remarkable for the sweet scent 

 of their Sowers. U. actUenta, a native of the Indian peninsula, has 

 fruit which is edible. Some species, as U. tylvatica, are valued for 

 their timber. U. lonyifolia is an elegant tree, with smooth, pointed, 

 and undulate leaves, which is much cultivated in some parts of India 

 to form avenues and to afford shade. It is sometimes called Deodara, 

 which is properly the name of the celebrated Himalayan Pine, Pinu> 

 or Cedrut Deodara. 



UPAS TREE. [An tli.au; SIRYCHNOS.] 



U'PUPA. [UpuriDi] 



UP'UPID^E, a family of Insessorial or Perching Birds. 



Linnanis placed the genus Upupa between Merops and Certhia 

 [CERTHIAD.E], among hU Pica, in his last edition of the ' Systema 

 Natune :' the species of Upupa recorded by him are U. epopg, U. pro- 

 merop, and U. iiaradisea. 



Mr. Q. R. Gray makes the Ufvpida (Upupa, Linn.), the 6rst family 

 of the Tenuiroitra, consist of the following sub-families and genera : 

 Sub-Family 1. Upupina. 



Genera: Upupa, Linn.; Fregilupm, Less.; Falculia, J. Geoffr. ; 

 Neomorpha, Gould; Sdcucide*, Less.; Craspedophora, G. R. Gray; 

 Ptilorit, Sw. 



Sub-Family 2. Pi omeropina. 



Oenen:Promerope, Brisson; Rhinopomastus, Smith; Epimachus, 

 Cuvier. 



The Upnpida, in Mr. Gray's arrangement, are immediately succeeded 

 by the Nectarinidce. 



'Our limits will not permit us to notice particularly in this article 

 more than the genera Upupa, Promerops, and Epimachus. 



Upupa, Linn. Bill very long, slightly arched, slender, triangular, 

 compressed ; nostrils basal, lateral, ovoid, open, surmounted by the 

 feathers of the forehead ; feet with three anterior toes, the external 

 joined to the middle toe up to its first joint ; one posterior toe; claws 

 short and slightly curved, that of the hind toe nearly straight ; tail 

 squared, composed of ten feathers ; wings moderate, fourth and fifth 

 quills the longest; tongue very short, triquetraL 



/ . '/>epi, the Hoopoe. This is the "E)< of the Greeks (Aristotle, 

 'Hit. Aniro.,' i. 1; ix. 11; ix. 15, 49; Aristophanes, 'Birds,' 228, ct 

 eq. ; Paninnian, x. 4) ; Upupa and Epops of the Romans (Pliny, ' Nat. 

 Hint,' x. 29 ; xxx. 6 ; Ovid, ' Metam.,' vi.). In Ovid's lines descriptive 

 of the transformation of Tereua, the bird is drawn to the life : 



" Tereus 



Veitltnr in volucrem, cni slant in vertice cristsr. 

 rrnniin'-t immoflicnm pro long* cospldc rostrum, 

 Jt'omtn Epnin volucri, fades armata videtnr." 

 " Terna, through grief, und haste to be reveng'd, 

 Hhares the like fate, and to a binl is chang'd. 

 FixM on hi head the crested plumes appear, 

 Long it his beak, and sharpen'd as a spear." Croxall. 



It is the Buba, Upega, Gallo del Paradiso, Galleto de Magio, Pubula, 

 Bubbola, Pupita, and Upupa, of the Italians ; Hupe, Huppe, Putput, 

 Huput, and Lupoge, of the French ; El Abubilla of the Spanish ; 

 Wiedehopf of the Germans; De Hoppe of the Netherlanders ; Hazfogel 

 of the Swedes; Her-fugl of the Danes; Smerda Kaura of Scopoli; 

 Dung-Bird of the English ; Y Goppog of the Welsh. 



Two parallel rows of long feathers form an arched crest upon the 

 head ; these feathers are of a ruddy buff colour, terminated with black ; 



Bill of Hoopoe. 



head, neck, and breast, vinous buff; upper part of the back vinous 

 gray ; on the back a large transversal baud ; wings and tail black ; on 

 the wings are five transversal bands of yellowish-white, and on the tail 

 is a very large white band, about the middle of the feathers ; at about 

 three-fourths of the length of the quilla is a large white band ; abdo- 

 men white, with some longitudinal spots on the thighs ; bills flesh- 

 colour at its base, and black towards the point; feet aud iris brown. 

 Length, 12.^ inches. 



The female is less than the male, her crest shorter, and the tints of 

 her plumage less vivid. 



The young when they leave the nest have the bill short, nearly 

 straight, and slightly cylindrical towards the point ; the feathers of the 

 crest short and often terminated with black, without the white spot 

 which is immediately below it in the adult ; the white band of the tail 

 nearer to the rump ; the plumage washed, as it were, with ash-colour ; 

 the bands on the wings less distinct and more yellowish, and a greater 

 quantity of longitudinal spots upon the belly and thighs. 



This bird is found as far north in the summer as Denmark, Sweden, 

 and Russia ; and southward in continental Europe, in Germany, Hol- 

 land, France, Spain, and Italy. It has been seen both at Gibraltar, 

 Ceuta, and in Egypt (where it breeds) : it is probably an inhabitant of 

 the whole of North Africa. It has been also observed at Madeira, 

 and at Trebizond, in Asia Minor, from which last locality it has been 

 sent to this country. 



It is generally found in the British Islands in autumn, but Hoopoes 

 have been known to build and hatch their young with us. The flesh 

 of the bird in autumn is said to be well flavoured. 



Hoopoe (Ujiupa cpof>1. 



