CHAP. XVIII.] 
BIRDS. 
317 
considered to show most resemblance, though still a very distant 
one, to the kingfishers. They are abundant in the Ethiopian 
and Oriental regions, and extend eastward to the Solomon 
Islands. Their classification is very unsettled, for though they 
have been divided into more than twenty genera they have not 
yet been carefully studied. The following grouping of the 
genera — referring to the numbers in the Rand List — must 
therefore be considered as only provisional : — ■ 
(1967 1968 1963^ Buceros (6 sp.), all Indo-Malaya, Arakan, Nepal 
and the Neilgherries (Plate IX. Yol. I. p. 339) ; ( 1959 - 1961 ) 
Rydrocissa (7 sp.), India and Ceylon to Malaya and Celebes ; 
(1962) Berenicornis (2 sp.), Sumatra and West Africa; ( 1964 ) 
Calao (3 sp.), Tennaserim, Malaya, Moluccas to the Solomon 
Islands ; ( 1965 ) Aceros (1 sp.), South-east Himalayas ; ( 1966 1967 ) 
Cranorrhinus (3 sp.), Malacca, Sumatra, Borneo, Philippines, 
Celebes ; ( 1968 ) Penelopides (1 sp.), Celebes ; ( 1909 ~ 1971 ) Tockus 
(15 sp.), Tropical and South Africa ; ( 1972 ) Rhinoplax (1 sp.), 
Sumatra and Borneo ; ( 197s ~ 1975 ) Bycanistes (6 sp.), West Africa 
with East and South Africa ; ( 1976 1977 ) Meniceros (3 sp.), India 
and Ceylon to Tenasserim ; ( 1978 ) Bucorvus (2 sp.), Tropical and 
South Africa. 
Family 69. — IIP UP ID HI (1 Genus, 6 Species.) 
General Distribution. 
N EOTRQPICAL 
SUB-REGIONS. 
Ne ARCTIC 
SlTB-REGIONS. 
P.ALACARCTIC 
Sub-regions. 
Ethiopian 
Sub-regions. 
Oriental 
Sub-regions. 
Australian 
Sub-regions. 
\ 
K> 
1 
£ 
1.2. 3. 4 
1.2.3- 
The Hoopoes form a small and isolated group of semi-terres- 
trial insectivorous birds, whose nearest affinities are with the 
Hornbills. They are most characteristic of the Ethiopian re- 
gion, but extend into the South of Europe and into all the 
continental divisions of the Oriental region, as well as to Ceylon, 
and northwards to Pekin and Mongolia. 
