UPUPA. 161 



or waste, and keep generally on the ground, though they perch 

 occasionally. They are sprightly and familiar birds, and may be 

 seen running about and searching for insects and especially grubs, 

 which they extract with their long bills from some distance 

 beneath the surface. The crest is usually kept folded back, but is 

 raised quickly if the bird is excited or alarmed. The note is a 

 double or treble sound like hoop. This species breeds in the 

 Western Himalayas in April and May, and lays from 4 to 7 pale 

 bluish-white eggs, measuring about 1-14 by '7. 



1067. Upupa indica. The Indian Hoopoe. 



Upupa senegalensis, apud Blyth, J. A. 8. B. xiv, p. 189; id. Cat. 



p. 46 ; nee Sw. 

 Upupa indica, Reich. Handb. spec. Om. p. 320, pi. dxcvi, fig. 4037 



(1851-4); Anders. Yunnan Exped., Aves, p. 578; Salvin, Cat. 



B. M. xvi, p. 10. 

 Upupa ceylonensis, Reich, t. c. pi. dcxv, fig. 4036; Blyth, Ibis, 1866,. 



p. 366 f Hume, Cat. no. 255 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 142 ; Oates in 



Hume's N. $ E. ii, p. 334. 

 Upupa nigripennis, Gould MS., Horsf. $ M. Cat. ii, p. 725 (1858) ; 



Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 392; id. Ibis, 1872, p. 22; MacMaster,. 



J.A.S. B. xl, pt. 2, p. 209 ; Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xli, pt. 2, p. 235 ; 



Butler, S. F. iii, p. 462 ; Legge, Birds Ceyl. p. 278. 

 Upupa longirostris, Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 393 ; Hume, 8. F. iii, p. 89 ; 



xi, p. 88 ; id. Cat. no. 254 bis ; Blyth fy Wald. Birds Burm. p. 69 ; 



Hume Sf Dav. S. F. vi, p. 202 ; Oates, B. B. ii, p. 62 ; id. in 



Hume's N. 8f E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 338. 



Hudhud, H. ; Sutdr, Mahr. ; Kondeh pitta, Kukudeu guwa, Tel. 

 Chaval kuruvi, Tarn., Ceylon ; Toun-bee-sote, Burm. 



Coloration similar to that of U. epops, except that there is no 

 white on the crest, that the head, neck, back, and breast are more 

 rufous, and that this colour extends farther over the abdomen : 

 thighs often rufous. 



Typical Burmese specimens have the wing in males 5-6, bill 

 from gape 2*6 ; in females 5'3 and 2*4 : but Indian and especially 

 Ceylonese specimens run smaller wing in Ceylonese males 5'3, 

 in females 4-85 ; bill 2-4 and 2-1. Skins from India, especially 

 from the North, very often show a tinge of white on the crest ; 

 these specimens Salvin regards as intermediate between U. indica 

 and U. epops, hybrids in fact, and I agree with him. To separate 

 the Indian and Burmese forms, and to make three species on such 

 very small distinctions as exist, is neither necessary nor reasonable. 



Distribution. With the exception of Sind and the Western 

 Punjab, throughout India, Ceylon, Burma, Siam, Cambodia, and 

 the countries eastward to Hainan. A resident species. 



Habits, Sfc. Similar to those of U. epops. The breeding-season 

 in various parts of India is from February till May, earlier to the 

 southward ; in Ceylon, according to Legge, November to April. 

 The eggs are 4 to 7 in number, sometimes, it is said, more, pale 

 bluish or greenish-white in colour, and measure about '97 by *66. 



VOL. III. M 



