d adjectival adjuncts are necessary to each species to
distinguish it from each of the host of other woodpeckers. This
particular species is larger than a crow and is recognisable by its
green colour. It might be possible to condense an accurate description
of the plumage of this bird into half a column of print. I will, however,
refrain. There is a limit to the patience of even the Anglo-Indian.

THE CAPITONIDAE OR BARBET FAMILY

The only member of this family common in the Himalayas is that fine
bird known as the great Himalayan barbet (_Megalaema marshallorum_).
As this forms the subject of a separate essay, detailed description
is unnecessary in the present one. It will suffice that the bird is
over a foot in length and has a large yellow beak. Its prevailing
hue is grass green. It has a bright red patch under the tail. It goes
about in small flocks and constantly utters a loud plaintive
dissyllabic note.

THE ALCEDINIDAE OR KINGFISHER FAMILY

The Himalayan pied kingfisher (_Ceryle lugubris_) is a bird as large
as a crow. Its plumage is speckled black and white, like that of a
Hamburg fowl. It feeds entirely on fish, and frequents the larger
hill streams. Its habit is to squat on a branch, or if the day be
cloudy, on a boulder in mid-stream, whence it dives into the water
after its quarry. Sometimes, kestrel-like, it hovers in the air on
rapidly-vibrating pinions until it espies a fish in the water below,
when it closes its wings and drops with a splash in the water, to
emerge with a silvery object in its bill.

THE UPUPIDAE OR HOOPOE FAMILY

The unique hoopoe (_Upupa epops_) next demands our attention. This
is a bird about the size of a myna. The wings and tail are boldly
marked with alternate bands of black and white. The remainder of the
plumage is of a fawn colour. The bill is long and slender, like that
of a snipe, but slightly curved. The crest is the feature that
distinguishes the hoopoe from all other birds. This opens and closes
like a lady's fan. Normally it remains closed, but when the bird is
startled, and at the moment when the hoopoe alights on the ground,
the crest opens to form a magnificent corona. Hoopoes seek their food
on grass-covered land, digging insects out of the earth with their
long, pick-like bills. They are very partial to a dust-bath. During
the breeding season--that is to say, in April and May in the
Himalayas--hoopoes continually utter in low tones _uk-uk-uk_. The
call i