UP UP A NIGRIPENNIS. 
279 
As to the Ceylonese bird, it is identical, in all respeets, with specimens I have examined from Mysore, which represent 
the true nignpennis of Gould. 
The Burmese form ( IT. lonc/irostris, Jerdon) has not got a longer bill than Ceylonese specimens often have ; it has the 
white spot on the quill which I have shown to exist in the latter, although this is a worthless character in the 
present species, its absence in specimens which Jerdon handled probably causing him to err in saying that the 
species wanted it ; this, however, was afterwards corrected by him in the ‘ Ibis,’ 1872, p. 22. Both species want 
the white on the hinder crest-feathers ; and examples of each may, I think, be found equally dark as to their 
rufous coloration ; I therefore imagine that the two races are scarcely separable. 
Distribution. — The Indian Hoopoe is an inhabitant of many of the dry districts in Ceylon. It is very 
common both in the north and south-east of the island. In the former district it spreads from the Jaffna 
peninsula down the west coast as far as the neighbourhood of Puttalam. I have seen it in the island of 
Manaar; and Mr. Iloldsworth says that it is very abundant at Aripu during the winter months, its numbers 
being largely increased about October. In the south-east it is common throughout the year between 
Hambantota and Yala, and likewise in portions of the Park country and the Eastern Province. I found it 
in August on the patnas near Bibile, at the foot of the Madulsima range. It is not unfrequent in Uva, and 
occurs occasionally on the Elephant and Kandapolla plains and at high elevations in Maturate. I am 
indebted to Col. Watson for the possession of an example which he shot at Kandapolla in May at an eleva- 
tion of 6300 feet ; and he informs me that he has often seen it in that locality. It is sometimes found in 
Dumbara, straying thither, in all probability, up the valley of the Mahawelliganga from the low country of 
Bintenne. Near this locality I have met with it at Mincry Lake ; but I never saw it nearer Trincomalic than 
this, although it may possibly visit the plains in the delta of the Mahawelliganga. 
Layard writes that he procured a solitary specimen at Colombo; but any occurrence of it in that 
neighbourhood, or anywhere south of Chilaw, must be looked upon as that of a straggler down the west coast. 
It has never been found in the south-west. 
Jerdon writes of this species that it “ is found throughout Southern India, extending through part of 
Central India to the North-west Provinces and the Debra Boon/’ Whether the examples from the latter 
locality really belong to this species or to the race U. indica, I am unable to say. In the Khandala district 
Mr. Fail-bank says it is common, and Burgess writes of it as the same in the upper portion of the Deccan. 
Mr. Adam speaks of it as “ not common ” in the Sambhur-Lalce district, and Captain Butler writes the same 
of it in the Guzerat region ; but these birds, I imagine, probably pertain to the intermediate form. Erom 
Sindh, Mr. Hume remarks that he has never seen it. In the extreme south of India it appears to be chiefly 
restricted to the east coast; for it is found in the island of Ramisserum, and Mr. Fairbank observed it in the 
lower Palanis, whereas I find no record of it in Mr. Bourdillon' , s list of the birds of Travancore. 
The Burmese race, U. lonc/irostris, is common in the plains of Pegu throughout the year, but is, according 
to Mr. Hume, most numerous in February and March. In the Irrawaddy delta, Dr. Armstrong found it 
very abundant in open country. Swinhoe found it at Hainan, in China, and records it from Siam. 
Habits. — This charming bird frequents, in the island of Ceylon, open sparsely-timbered ground, scrub- 
dotted plains, cultivated fields, dry grazing-land in the jungles of the interior, and patnas in the Central 
Province. In its nature it is a tame bird, and when scratching for insects, with its handsome crest depressed, 
allows a near approach before taking flight ; when flushed it does not usually fly far, but takes refuge m a 
neighbouring tree, where it will sit quietly, giving out its soft and melodious call, hoo-poo, hoo-poo, accompanied 
by a movement of its handsome crest and an oscillation to and fro of its head at each note. In Jaffna it 
may be seen close to the houses of the English residents, and I have known it breed in the garden of a 
bungalow within a few yards of the verandah. It feeds entirely on the ground, strutting about with an easy 
gait and scratching vigorously for insects in dry soil. It often scrutinizes the odure of cattle, beneath 
which it finds an abundance of food. 
In India Jerdon remarks that it frequents “old deserted buildings, such as mosques, tombs, and large 
mud walls he found its food to consist of ants, Coleoptera, and small grasshoppers. Burgess says that in 
the Deccan it affects sandy plots of ground outside the walls of villages, where the ground is perforated with 
the conical holes of the ant-lion, on the larvse of which it feeds. 
