CHAP. XVIII.] 



BIRDS. 



317 



considered to show most resemblance, though still a very distant 

 one, to the kingfishers. They are abundant in the Ethiopian 

 and Oriental regions, and extend eastward to the Solomon 

 Islands. Their classification is very unsettled, for though they 

 have been divided into more than twenty genera they have not 

 yet been carefully studied. The following grouping of the 

 genera referring to the numbers in the Hand List must 

 therefore be considered as only provisional : 



(1957 1958 1963) Buceros (6 sp.), all Indo-Malaya, Ar^kan, Nepal, 

 and the Neilgherries (Plate IX. Vol. I. p. 339) /( 1959 ~ 1961 ) 

 Hydrocissa (7 sp.), India and Ceylon to Malaya and Celebes ; 

 ( 1962 ) Berenicornis (2 sp.), Sumatra and West Africa; ( 1964 ) 

 Galao (3 sp.), Tennaserim, Malaya, Moluccas to the Solomon 

 Islands; ( 1965 ) Aceros (1 sp.), South-east Himalayas ; ( 1966 1967 ) 

 Cranorrhinus (3 sp.), Malacca, Sumatra, Borneo, Philippines, 

 Celebes; ( 1968 ) Penelopides (1 sp.), v Cfe!e^; C 969 ~ 1971 ) Tockus 

 (15 sp.), Tropical and South Africa ; ( 1972 ) Rhinoplax (1 sp.), 

 Sumatra and Borneo ; ( 1973 ~~ 1975 ) Bycanistes (6 sp.), West Africa 

 with East and South Africa ; ( 1976 1977 ) Meniceros (3 sp.), India 

 and Ceylon to Tenasserim ; ( 1978 ) Bucorvus (2 sp.), Tropical and 

 South Africa. 



FAMILY 69. UPUPID^E. (1 Genus, 6 Species.) 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. 



The Hoopoes form a small and isolated group of semi-terres- 

 trial insectivorous birds, whose nearest affinities are with the 

 Hornbills. They are most characteristic of the Ethiopian re- 

 gion, but extend into the South of Europe and into all the 

 continental divisions of the Oriental region, as well as to Ceylon, 

 and northwards to Pekin and Mongolia. 



