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FREGILUPUS LESSON, 



H 



UGE crest, bill long and curved. One species, extinct. 



FREGILUPUS VARIA (BODD.) 



(Plate 1.) 



" Huppes ou Callendres," Voyages du Sieur D.B. (Dubois) aux lies Dauphine on Madagascar, 



and Bourbon ou Mascarenne, etc., p. 172 (1674 — Bourbon). 

 Huppe du Cap de Bonne Espbrance Daubenton, PI. Enl. 697. 



Huppe noire et blanche du Cap de Bonne Esp&rance Montbeillard, Hist. Nat. Ois. VI, 

 p. 463 (1779). 



Madagascar Hoopoe Latham, Gen. Syn. B. II pt. I, p. 690 (1783). 



Upupa varia Boddaert, Tabl. PI. Enl. p. 43 (1783 — ex Daubenton). 



Upupa capensis Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, p. 466 (1788 — ex Montbeillard). 



La Huppe grise Audebert et Vieillot, Ois. Dor., " Promerops " p. 15 pi. 111 (1802). 



he Merops huppe Levaillant, Hist. Nat. Promerops, etc., p. 43, pi. 18 (1806). 



Upupa madagascariensis Shaw, Gen. Zool. VIII, pt. I, p. 140 (1812). 



Coracia cristata Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. VIII, p. 3 (1817). 



Pastor upupa Wagler, Syst. Avium, Pastor, sp. 13 (1827). 



Fregilupus borbonicus Vinson, Bull. Soc. d'Acclimat 1868, p. 627. 



Fregilupus varius Hartlaub, V6g. Madagasc. p. 203 (1877); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XIII 

 p. 194 (1890) ; Milne- Edwards & Oustalet, Centenaire Mus. Hist. Nat., p. 205, pi. II 



S long ago as 1674 a note about the " Huppe" exists, by " Le Sieur D.B.," 



JTm. i-e-, Dubois. He says, when describing the birds of Reunion (translated) : 

 " Hoopoes or 1 Callendres,' having a white tuft on the head, the rest 

 of the plumage white and grey, the bill and the feet like a bird of prey ; 

 they are a little larger than the young pigeons ; this is another good game 

 {i.e., to eat) when it is fat." 



This description has generally been accepted as referring to the 

 Fregilupus, though that of the bill and feet is then due to an error of the 

 author, for Fregilupus has the bill and feet of a member of the Sturnidae 

 or family of Starlings. 



Good descriptions and representations of the "Huppe" have been given 

 in many places (see literature), but whether they were taken from males or 

 females is generally not known. The sexes seem to be alike in colour, but 

 the female is smaller, and has a shorter and straighter bill than the male. 

 At least, this is the conclusion of Dr. Hartert, who saw the four examples 

 in the museum at Troyes. As far as he could see through the glass all four 



(1893). 



