184 



6 



Hainan. The specimens in Mr. Swinhoe's collection from this island seem to have rather stouter bills, 

 but otherwise agree with U. longirostris . Two out of the three specimens have no white spot on the first primary ; 

 and none of them has even a shade of white before the black bar on the crest. A tinge of this colour 

 is always visible in U. indica. Total length 9"5-10 - 5 inches, culmen 2 - 0-2 - 5, wing 5'2— 5 - 6, tail 3 - 7-4 - l, 

 tarsus 09. It will be seen that the largest of the Hainan specimens agrees with the Tonghu bird above 

 mentioned, as Mr. Swinhoe himself has already remarked ; and if it is eventually proved that the Burmese 

 constitutes a recognizable species, the Hoopoe of Hainan will most probably be found to belong to U. longi- 

 rostris rather than to U. indica. 



Summary. 



From the examination of the above material we are inclined to allow the validity of five species of Hoopoes 

 as follows : — 



1. U. epops, L. General colour pale vinous ; crest conspicuously barred with white before the black tip on 

 the hinder feathers. Hab. Europe and Siberia, extending to India in winter, resident in China, also in N.-E. 

 Africa, but apparently only a winter visitant to Senegal. 



2. U. indica, Layard ( U. nigripennis, Gould ; U. ceylonensis, Reich.) . Darker than U. epops. Crest-feathers 

 not distinctly black at the tip, but with a shade of white before the black bar. Hab. Resident in India and 

 Ceylon ; range to the eastward not determined. 



3. U. longirostris, Jerd. Larger than U. indica, and deeper in colour ; bill very long ; crest-feathers tipped 

 with black, and no trace of a white bar; thighs very rufous. Hab. Buriuah to Hainan; probably the Hoopoe 

 of the Indo-Chinese Region. 



4. U. africana, Bechst. (U. decorata, Hartl., = ? ). Distinct and excellent species, characterized by the 

 absence of the white bar on the primaries and the deep rufous coloration : sexes different ; no white on the crest. 

 Hab. S. Africa as far as Zambesi on the east coast, and Benguela on the west. 



5. U. marginata, Peters. Like U. epops, but larger; no white on crest; outer tail-feather more broadly 

 edged with white than in the European species. Hab. Madagascar. 



The nomenclature adopted is that used by Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub in their ' Vogel Ost-Afrika's/ where 

 an excellent account of the Hoopoes will be found. 



The Hoopoe is a common bird in Southern Europe, but is of rarer occurrence towards the 

 northern part of the continent, though it has once been known to occur in Spitsbergen. It 

 breeds plentifully all over Southern and South-eastern Europe, as well as in North-eastern 

 Africa, but occurs in Africa principally as a winter visitant, when it occupies Senegambia, and 

 has been said to occur in the Cape Colony by Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub, who base this assertion 

 on specimens in the Leyden and Bremen Museums. We ourselves very much doubt the occur- 

 rence of the Hoopoe in South Africa. In India it is met with plentifully as a winter visitant — 

 and is found as a migrant in Siberia, apparently on its way to and from China, where it is found 

 all the year round. 



It would be difficult to enumerate all the instances of the capture of the Hoopoe in Great 

 Britain ; for, as Mr. Stevenson remarks, it is a regular spring migrant, though of exceptional 

 occurrence in autumn. As might be expected, it is met with more frequently in the southern 

 and eastern counties, but occurs not uncommonly inland ; and we have even heard of its capture 

 on Hampstead Heath, close to London. In Ireland it is found occasionally. We have received 

 from our friend Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., the accompanying interesting note on the Hoopoe in 

 England: — " On the 5th of September 1871, I saw at the house of Mr. G. Jell a Hoopoe which 

 had been shot on the 25th of August at Lydd by Mr. Sampson, a farmer, who also killed one in 



