232 NATURAL HISTORY. 



Tribe II TENUIROSTRES. (Lat. Slender-billed.) 



Family I. . . . Upupidffl. (Lat. Hoopoe kind.) 

 Sub-family a. Upupince. 



UPUPA. 



Epops (Gr. *ETTOT/>), the Hoopoe. 



The HOOPOE, one of the most elegant birds that visit this 

 country, is, unfortunately, a very rare guest, and seldom, if ever, 

 breeds here. Its beautiful crest can be raised or depressed at 

 pleasure, but is seldom displayed unless the bird is excited 

 from some cause. Its food consists of insects, which it first 

 batters arid moulds into an oblong mass, and then swallows, 

 with a peculiar jerk of the head. In Yarrell's British Birds, 

 there is a very interesting account of a tame Hoopoe in the 

 possession of Mr. Bartlett. 



In France Hoopoes are very common, and may be seen ex- 

 amining old and rotten stumps for the insects that invariably 

 congregate in such places. There they may be seen in flocks, 

 but they never seem to come over to England in greater 



