44 BRITISH BIRDS, WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 
FAMILY UPUPIDA. 
CCORDING to Jerdon, the Hoopoes are allied in structure to the Hornbills 
(Birds of India, vol. i, p. 358) in which opinion he was supported by 
Huxley, Forbes, Sclater, and Gadow: both Huxley and Sclater were also of 
opinion that they were related to the Bee-eaters. They moreover possess characters 
in common with the Kingfishers and Rollers. 
The family is an extremely small one, consisting of only half a dozen species 
(Seebohm) of which only one species occurs in Europe. The following family 
characters are given by Jerdon:—“ Bill long and slender, slightly curved through- 
out; the tips acute and entire; nostrils small; wings rounded; tail moderate or 
long, even or rounded; tarsi short and stout; outer toe syndactyle at the base; 
toes and claws strong.” Jerdon, however, appears to have regarded the family 
Irrisoride of Sclater which, as the name implies, contains birds with more or less 
metallic plumage (and also differing in being crestless) as a mere Subfamily of 
the Upupide (Trrisoring,) and the more typical Hoopoes he placed in a Subfamily 
Upuping which he characterized as follows :—‘‘ Tail with ten feathers; wings long; 
bill keeled at the base; head with a large erectile crest.” So far as I can judge 
Seebohm seems to have been half inclined to follow him in this; pointing out 
that both Subfamilies agree in the “slender curved bill, rounded wings composed 
of ten primaries, tail of ten feathers, and the hind toe and claw well developed, as 
in the Passeride.”” The Hoopoes, however, differ from all the Passeres excepting 
the Larks in having the tarsus scaled at the back as well as in front. 
The Hoopoes are ground-feeders, they haunt open fields, pastures, and roads, 
where they pick up the insects or worms on which they subsist: they nest in 
holes in trees or wails, lining their very flimsy pretence at a structure with the 
foulest and most offensive matter, and laying greenish-blue or pale bluish eggs. 
As cage-birds the Hoopoes are not difficult to tame, and it is said that they 
have even been induced to breed in confinement; they, however, do not show off 
their full beauty, but give much trouble, in a cage, one of their greatest charms 
being their butterfly-like flight; a small aviary is most suitable for such birds, 
where constant cleansing is unnecessary. 
