200 Zoological Society : — 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



February 27, 1855. — Dr. Gray, Vice-Presiclent, in the Chair. 



Notes on the Habits of some Indian Birds. Part VII. 

 By Lieut. Burgess. 



Subfamily Promerotid.e. 



Genus Upupa. 



Upupa Epops. Hoopoe. 



In the upper portion of the Deccan the Hoopoe is a common bird, 

 frequenting gardens and woody spots, and is very partial to sandy 

 plots of ground, particularly outside the walls of villages. In such 

 places the sand is perforated with the conical holes of the ant-lion, 

 and that this is the food sought for by the Hoopoe in these spots, I 

 discovered on opening the gizzard of one, which was of a very soft 

 texture, and contained one large grub and two or three ant-lions. 

 The Hoopoe breeds in the months of April and May, building its 

 nest in holes in the mud walls which surround towns and villages in 

 the Deccan. I transcribe a note taken on 7th May 1850 on the 

 subject : — " To-day a man brought me word that about fifteen or 

 twenty days ago he found a pair of Hoopoes breeding in a hole m 

 the walls of a town ; the nest contained two young birds ; it was 

 composed of grass, hemp, and feathers. The same man tells me 

 that he has discovered another pair building." The head man of 

 the town of Jintee brought me an egg of the Hoopoe, which has un- 

 fortunately been broken. It was of a very pale blue, or rather skim- 

 milk colour. He found a nest in a hole in a fort wall ; it was made 

 soft with a few pieces of hemp, and contained three eggs. 



Tribe Fissirostres. 



Family Meropid^. 



Genus Merops. 



Merops indicus. Common Indian Bee-eater. 



A common bird in the Deccan, but remarkable for its brilliant 

 plumage, and active fl3'-catching habits. It chooses for its perch 

 the outside twig of a tree, whence it makes its forage amongst the 

 insect tribes that are brought out by the morning beams. The Bee- 

 eater breeds during the months of April and May, laying its eggs in 

 holes in banks. On the 13th IMay 1850, I found a pair of these 

 birds breeding in a hole in a bank ; the hole was more than an arm's 

 -length in depth. At the bottom of it I found three young birds, 

 one very small, with scarcely any feathers on it ; another somewhat 

 larger, and the third of considerable size and pretty well fledged. 

 There was no nest. 



That birds of this genus migrate, I had a convincing proof when 



