Expedition to the Eastern Canary Islands. 253 



liigh cliffs belo\v Monte Famara and on the precipice known 

 as El Risco. Curiously enough, it was M. m. brehmorum 

 and not this species which we found on the small islets. 

 Undoubtedly the Black Swift breeds on the western islands, 

 as on May the 1st I shot a specimen in Gran Canaria with 

 well-developed eggs in the ovary. There is no reason why 

 this bird should not breed in the eastern group, but up 

 to the present there are no actual records of its having 

 done so. 



Several examples were obtained from Fuerteventura. 



Bill black ; iris dark hazel ; feet purplish brown, rather 

 more pink than in M. m. brehmorum. 



iLJpxipa epops epops. Hoopoe. 



Upupa e. epops Linn.; Bannerman, Part I. pp. 43, 44,46, 

 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 57, 59, 60, 65, 86. 



Upupa epups pallida Erl. ; Floericke, A. d. Heimat d. 

 Kanarienvog. 1905, p. 32. 



Upupa epops petrosa ) Floericke, A. d. Heimat d. Kana- 



Upupa epops pulchra ) rienvog. 1905, p. 32. 



Upupa epops faerteventurce Polatzek, Orn. Jahrb. 1903, 

 p. 166. 



The unfortunate Hoopoes found in the Canary Islands 

 have been ^' split up " into a regular army of subspecies, as 

 can be seen by the formidable list above ! No species has 

 been more confused, and the indiscriminate naming and 

 splitting up of a bird of such migratory habits on the most 

 meagre evidence is to be sincerely deplored. 



I had, previously to setting out on my last expedition and 

 while working on the " Birds of Gran Canaria,^' attempted 

 to discriminate between the alleged forms without success. 

 While in the eastern islands, therefore, I paid special atten- 

 tion to the Hoopoes, and collected examples from every 

 locality visited in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. With a 

 series of twenty specimens obtained by myself in Gran 

 Canaria and the eastern islands, together with a much larger 

 number acquired from other sources, I have had ample 

 material with which to thoroughly study the question. 



