159 



Suborder ~UPUPM. 



Caeca wanting ; oil-gland tufted ; sternum with two deep posterior 

 notches, one on each side ; rnanubrium not forked, flat and broad, 

 a perforation behind it ; spinal feather-tract well-defined on the 

 neck, and forked on the upper back. Only the left carotid is 

 present. Deep plantar tendons free from each other, as far as the 

 subdivision of the flexor perforates digitorum, but a vinculum from 

 the flexor longus hallucis leads to that slip from the other tendon 

 which supplies the third digit or middle toe, the union of the 

 vinculum with the slip taking place below, not above the root of 

 the toe *. 



The Hoopoes have been shown by numerous observers, especially 

 Murie (Ibis, 1873, pp. 181-211), to be closely allied both in struc- 

 ture and nesting-habits to the Hornbills. There are two families, 

 Upupidce and Irrisoridce, the latter confined to Africa. 



Family UPUPIDJE. 



Genus UPUPA. 



This is the only genus in the family. Bill slender, long, curved 

 from the base ; tongue very short. A well-marked and long 

 coronal crest, the hinder feathers longest. Tarsus short, scutellate 

 behind as in Alaudidce. Wing rounded, with 10 primaries. Tail 

 moderate, of 10 rectrices. 



The Hoopoes feed on the ground on grubs and insects and use as 

 nests holes in trees, banks, or walls, frequently lining the hole 

 with a little grass, feathers, or hair. The female sits very closely 

 and is fed by the male. The nest-hole and the young smell very 

 offensively, apparently owing to the dirty condition of the nest. 

 The eggs are pale bluish or greenish white. 



The genus ranges throughout the temperate and tropical parts 

 of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Two species are Indian. 



Key to the Species. 



White between buff and black of crest-feathers U. epops, p. 159. 



No white on crest U. indica, p. 161. 



1066. TJpupa epops. The European Hoopoe. 



Upupa epops, Linn. Sy*t. Nat. i, p. 183 (1766) ; Blyth, Cat. p. 46; 

 Horsf. Sf M.Cat. ii, p. 723 ; Jerdon, B. 1. i, p. 390 ; Scott, Ibis, 1866, 

 p. 222 ; 1867, p. 135 ; Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xxxvii, pt. 2, p. 26 ; 

 Beavan, This, 1870, p. 310 ; Godw.-Aust. J. A. S. B. xxxix, pt. 2, 

 p. 99 ; xlv, pt. 2, p. 71 ; Jerdon, Ibis, 1872, p. 21 ; Blanf. J. A. S. B. 



* This discovery has just been made by Gadow, and is announced in 

 ' Newton's Dictionary of Birds ' (pt. iii, 1894), pp. 617.. 618, fig. V d . Hitherto it 

 had been supposed that the plantar tendons of Hoopoes were free, as in Passeres. 



