1845.] or Utile known species of Birds. 189 



which group he styles Upupidce, and regards its two generic sections 

 to be of the value of subfamilies, adding the remark, that the ques- 

 tion where the Upupidce should be placed cannot, as he thinks, 

 " be answered satisfactorily till more facts are collected respecting 

 the food, habits, and anatomy of this group and of others with which 

 it may be compared," I may here notice that while I quite agree 

 with Mr. Strickland in approximating the two genera under con- 

 sideration, I still retain my conviction expressed several years ago (vide 

 Mag. Nat. Hist., n. s., 1838, p. 593), and formed upon anatomi- 

 cal data, that the Hoopoes are nearly related to the Hornbills ; 

 and the hiatus between these two allied, but distinct, groups is con- 

 siderably lessened by the interposition of Irrisor, which genus I 

 suspect is subordinate to JBucerotidce rather than to Upupidce, and 

 as a subfamily of the former, I conceive it to be most naturally 

 placed. In the configuration of the sternal apparatus, the chief 

 differences occur in the anatomy of the Hornbills and the Hoopoes, 

 the alimentary organs presenting a very close similitude ; and in the 

 form of the sternum and its appurtenances, I will venture to hazard 

 the conjecture that proof will be afforded of the near affinity of Irrisor 

 for Buceros. As in both Buceros and Upupa, I observe that Irrisor 

 has only ten tail-feathers, whereas the allied genera of Halcyonidce, 

 &c. have twelve ; and perhaps we should not be wrong in arrang- 

 ing both Irrisorince and Upupince as subfamilies of Bucerotidce. 



Hoopoes (Upupa, Lin.) There are three distinct, although closely 

 allied, species of this genus, as follow : 



1. U. epops, Lin. The common European Hoopoe, which is nu- 

 merous in Bengal, and in Upper India generally, but of rare occur- 

 rence in the south of India. Mr. Jerdon has obtained it in the Neil- 

 gherries. Length of its wing six inches. 



2. U. senegalensis ( ? ), Swainson, 'Birds of W. Africa,' ii, 114, 

 Nat. Libr. : U. minor, apud Jerdon. This quite agrees with Mr. 

 Swainson's description of the Senegal Hoopoe, except that some spe- 

 cimens have a trace of whitish on the hinder crest- feathers, where 

 indeed it chiefly appears in U. epops. The wing varies from four 

 inches and three-quarters to five and three-eighths in length ; but the 

 bill is as much elongated as in the last. Common in most, if not all, 

 parts of the peninsula of India. 



3. U. minor, Shaw. Distinguished from both the preceding by 

 having the primaries plain black, without the broad white band con- 



