Hoopoes - Fauna of India (Birds) 1895 by AO Hume

Fauna of India (Birds) vol iii 1895 - by W. T. Blanford

Page 47

Upupa

or waste, and keep generally on the ground, though they perch occasionally They are sprightly and familiar birds, and may be seen running about and searching for insects and especially grubs. which they extract with their long bills from some distance beneath the surface. The crest is usually kept folded back, but is raised quickly if the bird is excited or alarmed. The note is a double or treble sound like hoop. This species breeds in the Western Himalayas in April and May, and lays from 4 to 7 pale bluish-white eggs, measuring about 1.14 by 0.7.

Upupa indica, Indian Hoopoe

Upupa senegalensis, apud Blyth, J.A.S.B. xiv, p. 189; id. Cat. p. 40; nec Sw.
Upupa indica, Reich. Handb. spec. Orn. p. 320, pl. dxcvi, fig. 4037 (1851-4); Anders. Yunnan Exped., Aves, p. 578; Salvin, Cat. B.M. xvi, p. 10.
Upupa ceylonensis, Reich. t. c. pl dcxv, fig. 4036; Blyth, Ibis, 1866, p. 306; Hume, Cat. no. 255; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 142; Oates in Hume’s N. E. ii, p. 334
Upupa nigripennis, Gould MS., Horsf. & M.Cat. ii, p. 725 (1858); Jerdon B. I. i, p. 392; id. Ibis, 1872, p. 22; MacMaster,. J.A.S.B. xl, pt. 2, p. 209; Stoliczka, J.A.S.B. xli, pt. 2, p. 235; Butler, S.F. iii, p. 462; Legge, Birds Ceyl. p. 278
Upupa longirostris, Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 393; Hume, S.F. iii, p. 89; xi, p. 88; id. Cat. no. 254 bis; Blyth & Wald. Birds Burm. p. 69; Hume & Dav. S.F. vi, p. 202; Oates, B. B. ii, p. 62; id. in Hume’s N. E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 338

Name: Hudhud (Hindi); Sutar, Mahr.; Kondeh pitta, Kukudeu guwa, (Telegu); Chaval kuruvi, (Tamil), Ceylon; Toun-bee-sote, (Burmese).

Coloration: Similar to that of U. epops except that there is no white on the crest, that the head, neck, back, and breast are more rufous, and that this colour extends farther over the abdomen; thighs often rufous.

Size: Typical Burmese specimens have the wing in males 5.6, bill from gape 2.6; in females 5.3 and 2.4: but Indian and especially Ceylonese specimens run smaller—wing in Ceylonese males 5.3, in females 4.85; bill 2.4 and 2.1.

Skins from India, especially from the North, very often show a tinge of white on the crest; these specimens Salvin regards as intermediate between U. indica and U. epops, hybrids in fact, and I agree with him. To separate the Indian and Burmese forms, and to make three species on such very small distinctions as exist, is neither necessary nor reasonable.

Distribution: With the exception of Sind and the Western Punjab, throughout India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Burma (Myanmar), Siam, Cambodia, and the countries eastward to Hainan. A resident species.

Habits: Similar to those of U. epops. The breeding-season in various parts of India is from February till May, earlier to the southward; in Ceylon, according to Legge, November to April The eggs are 4 to 7 in number, sometimes, it is said, more, pale bluish or greenish-white in colour, and measure about 0.97 by 0.66.

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