CERTHIIN^E. UPUPA. 215 



fibrous roots, and other materials, with a lining of feathers. 

 The eggs, from five to eight, are seven and a half twelfths long, 

 five-twelfths in breadth, glossy, white, dotted with brownish- 

 red or light red, the dots often disposed in a broad belt near 

 the larger end. 



Creeper. Tree-speeler. Brown Woodpecker. 



Certhia farniliaris, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 184. Certhia fami- 

 liaris, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. i. 410. Certhia familiaris, 

 Brown Tree-creeper, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iii. 33. 



GENUS LXXI, UPUPA. HOOPOE. 



Bill longer than the head, very slender, slightly arched, 

 angular, pentagonal at the base, four-sided toward the end, 

 tapering, acute ; upper mandible with the ridge very nar- 

 row, the sides flattened, the edges sharp, without notch ; 

 lower mandible with the angle rather long, the ridge sharp, 

 the tip acute ; gape-line slightly arcuate. Mouth of mode- 

 rate width ; tongue very short, fleshy, flattened. Nostrils 

 oblong, basal. Eyes moderate. Head ovato-oblong ; neck 

 moderate ; body rather slender. Feet very short ; tarsus 

 roundish, with seven anterior scutella ; toes moderate, com- 

 pressed ; the first large, the third and fourth connate at the 

 base ; claws of moderate length, stout, compressed, acute, 

 well-arched, excepting that of the hind toe. Plumage soft, 

 blended ; feathers on the top of the head elongated, forming 

 a large crest ; wing rather long, very broad, much rounded, 

 of nineteen quills, the fourth longest ; tail nearly even, of 

 ten soft feathers. 



139. UPUPA EPOPS. EUROPEAN HOOPOE. 



Head and neck light red, crest-feathers tipped with black ; 

 fore part of back light purplish-red, middle part barred with 

 black and reddish-white, tail-coverts black, barred with white; 

 wings and tail black, the former with several, the latter with 

 a single band of white. 



Male, 12, . . , 5 A, 2J, \*, &, *V 



The Hoopoe is merely an occasional or accidental visiter, 

 but has been met with in most parts of the country. Its ha- 

 bits are not known with certainty ; but the form of its tarsi 

 and claws would lead us to suppose that it creeps upon trees. 

 It is said to nestle in holes, and to lay from two to five light 

 grey or bluish-white eggs. 



