HOOPOE. 181 



the distal two-thirds of its length nearly black ; the base 

 flesh colour, or pale reddish brown ; the irides brown ; 

 from the forehead, over the top of the head to the occiput, 

 are two parallel rows of elongated feathers, arranged with 

 their surfaces outwards towards the side, forming a crest ; 

 the longest feathers, which are those about the middle, have 

 the base of a rich buff colour ; towards the end of the 

 feather, a patch of white tipped with velvet black ; the 

 feathers of that part of the crest on the forehead are the 

 shortest of the series, and are without the white patch ; the 

 sides of the head and back of the neck pale buff; across the 

 back are three half-circular bands, inclining downwards, one 

 band of white between two of black ; the rump white ; 

 the upper tail-coverts white at the base, and black at the 

 end ; the tail-feathers are black, with a well-defined white 

 patch about half way along in the middle feathers, but 

 gradually nearer the end in those toward the outside of 

 the tail, which gives to this band the form of a portion of 

 a circle when the tail-feathers are spread : both sets of 

 wing-coverts are black, with a transverse bar of buffy 

 white; the feathers on the shoulder and carpal joint pale 

 brown ; the primaries jet black, with one broad bar of 

 white ; the secondaries and tertials also black, but with 

 four or five narrow bars of white ; some of the tertials have 

 in addition edges and tips of pale buff, with an obliqe lon- 

 gitudinal stripe of pale buff on the inner web of the last 

 tertial feather ; when the wings are expanded, the white 

 transverse bars on the jet black ground are very regular 

 and very conspicuous ; the chin, throat, breast, and belly, 

 are pale buff; under tail-coverts white : legs and toes 

 brown ; the claws black, and but slightly curved. 



The whole length twelve inches and a half. From the 

 carpal joint to the end of the wing, five inches and five- 



