IOO 
British Birds. 
The Hoopoe. 
the sternum can be dis- 
tinguished from that of 
the last-named bird by its 
having only two notches, 
instead of four, at the 
posterior end, while both 
aspects of the tarsus are 
scaled across, as in the 
Larks. 
The Common Hoopoe 
(U pupa epops) is an in- 
habitant, in summer, of 
the whole of temperate 
Europe and Asia to 
Northern China and 
Japan, and it winters in Southern China and the Indian Peninsula, North-eastern 
Africa, and Senegambia. It occurs in the British Islands regularly every spring, and 
has undoubtedly nested with us. There can indeed be no doubt that the Hoopoe would 
breed regularly in our southern counties, were it unmolested, but unfortunately it is 
such a conspicuous bird that any unfortunate individual that comes over to our shores 
is certain to be shot at once. In places where the Hoopoe is not interfered with it 
becomes wonderfully tame during the nesting-season, and will come down into 
gardens after its food, which appears to consist entirely of insects and worms. 
The nest is always in the hole of a tree, and the eggs are from five to seven, of a 
stone-grey or greenish olive colour without any distinct spots. 
Kingfishers are found all over the world, and they are 
divided into two great groups : — those which feed almost ex- 
clusively on fish, and those whose food consists mainly of 
insects, Crustacea, etc., rather than of fish. The former group 
is generally 
THE 
KINGFISHERS. 
Sub-Order 
HALCYONES. 
known by the long and pointed bill and 
shorter tail, and to this group belongs 
our British Bird. There are many 
anatomical and osteological char- 
acters by which Kingfishers may be 
distinguished from other Picarian Birds, 
but there is no need to enter upon them 
in a little book like the present, as the 
form and colour of the birds renders 
them easily recognisable. 
The Common Kingfisher ( Alcedo 
The Kingfisher. 
