Birds. 155 



made into it : it was very clear that it did not open into the 

 gut or cloaca. A small pyramidal cavity existed at the back 

 part of the rectum, into which neither of the oviducts opened, 

 although they passed close to the sides of the gut. The lower 

 part of the rectum was not at all enlarged, i. e. into the form 

 of a cloaca ; nor were there any openings into it except those 

 of the m-eters. The testes of the male bird were small, 

 white, and of a healthy appearance : a vas deferens was clearly 

 to be seen running from them over the surface of each kid- 

 ney. Into one vas deferens a mercurial tube was placed, and 

 it allowed the quicksilver to pass readily. The margin of the 

 anus, with some of the rectum, having been removed, the 

 quicksilver escaped at the cut extremity of the duct, so that 

 it was impossible to ascertain in what manner it terminated. 

 Osseous fibres existed in the muscles and tendons of the legs 

 of both birds." 



Habits of the Hoopoe (ITpupa 'E'pops L.), as observed near 

 Bordeaux, — On the Bordeaux side of the Garonne, and near 

 the city, are large spaces of marshy ground, intersected by 

 broad ditches and creeks terminating in the river; where, 

 from the advantage derived from the water, many poplars 

 and willows are planted for the sake of the twigs, which are 

 much used for tying vines. These trees being topped at 

 about 1 ft. or 12 ft. from the ground, so as to induce them 

 to sprout much, become very thick, and, in the course of a 

 few years, gradually decaying at the centre, are attacked by 

 numerous tribes of insects, particularly the jet ant (i^ormica 

 fuliginosa). In these retired places, which are frequented 

 only by a few cowherds and country people, the hoopoe, 

 which is a very shy bird, may be frequently observed examin- 

 ing the rotten wood, and feeding on the insects with which it 

 abounds. The hoopoe flies low and seldom, unless when 

 disturbed, its food being so abundant as to require little 

 search ; it remains the whole year ; and breeds in a hollow 

 willow, about the end of May, laying two eggs of a cinereous 

 or ash colour. The young come out in June ; but I could 

 not ascertain the exact time required for hatching. This 

 bird is occasionally, though rarely, met with in England, 

 generally late in the autumn ; and, I believe, has never been 

 known to breed in England, though it probably does with 

 some of our northern neighbours : and its occasional visits to 

 us may be in the way of its autumnal migrations thence. — 

 E, H, GreenJiow. Bordeaux, Oct. 23. 1833. 



[Instances of the occurrence of the hoopoe in Britain are 

 registered in II. 395., IV. 163., V. 569., VI. 150. Sir Wm. 

 Jardine, in his notes to V^hite's Selborne, states that the 

 figure of the hoopoe, published in Selby's Ilhist. of Orn,, is 



