. A history of British birds . ow except at the tip,which is dusky: the irides are brown : the upper part of thehead, neck and body, the wing-coverts and the two middle tail-feathers are mouse-colour, the last being tipped with dark-brown, and having the shaft rufous; the wing-quills arebrown, the primaries tinged with reddish, and, except theexterior pair, have the hidden part chestnut; the remainingtail-feathers are blackish-brown, tipped with white, increasingin extent on each pair from the middle outwardly, and on theexterior occupying nearly all the outer web ; the chin, throatand lower p
. A history of British birds . ow except at the tip,which is dusky: the irides are brown : the upper part of thehead, neck and body, the wing-coverts and the two middle tail-feathers are mouse-colour, the last being tipped with dark-brown, and having the shaft rufous; the wing-quills arebrown, the primaries tinged with reddish, and, except theexterior pair, have the hidden part chestnut; the remainingtail-feathers are blackish-brown, tipped with white, increasingin extent on each pair from the middle outwardly, and on theexterior occupying nearly all the outer web ; the chin, throatand lower parts are white, the sides of the neck tinged withash-grey: legs, toes and claws, lead-colour. The whole length is about twelve inches, from the carpusto the tip of the wing five inches and five-eighths; the firstprimary shorter than the second. The sexes hardly differ; but the young are easily distin-guished by having the tail-quills dusky, with the white tipsmaller and less well defined. HOOPOE. PIC A RIM. ^ ^ *.. Upupa epops, Linnseus*. THE HOOPOE. Upupa epops. Upupa, Linnausf.—Bill long, slender, slightly arched, sharp and much com-pressed. Nostrils basal, oval, partly concealed by feathers. Tongue very short,and heart-shaped. Head with an erectile crest of oblong feathers set regularly inpairs for the whole length. Wings moderately long, very broad, with ten prim-aries, the first about half as long as the second, which is nearly an inch shorterthan the third, the fourth or fifth longest, but the sixth nearly equal to of ten feathers, almost square at the end. Feet with the tarsi scutellatedbehind as well as before ; toes three before, one behind, the outer and middleunited as far as the first joint; claws but slightly curved. So remarkable is the appearance of the Hoopoe, that onbeing seen in this country it is nearly always followed to thedeath, as though it were a great prize ; yet it is by no meansrare with us, since not a year passes without exa
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Keywords: ., bookauthorsaun, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds
