HOOPOE 261 



has frequently been luet with in my neighbourhood, often 

 found in the marshes and uplands bordering the Stour, 

 and generally in the autumn, and young birds are gener- 

 ally those recorded, and a specimen of the Hoopoe was 

 shot lately near Dover, by Mr. Crundel, while out Part 

 ridge shooting in November, 1889." 



In September, 1892, a specimen was obtained in the 

 Manor House garden on the Tonbridge Eoad, Maidstone, 

 and it is supposed that it has bred near that place on two 

 occasions or more. The Rev. C. H. Fielding states that 

 the " Hoopoe was found at liyarsh, in Kent, where it 

 built for some years." In his Birds of Bainham Mr. W. 

 Prentis says : " The Hoopoe has upon two occasions at 

 least been met with, once in the spring of the year and 

 the other in the autumn, both times near trees on the 

 border of the marsh. A third Hoopoe is said to have 

 been seen this spring (1894)." There is a specimen in 

 the Maidstone Museum labelled Kent, presented by Mr. 

 G. Simmons ; and it is also recorded from Aylesford, near 

 Maidstone, April, 1894. A specimen was procured by 

 Mr. G. Bensted at Ulcombe, in Kent, on September 1, 

 1898. Mr. A. Eandall Davis (Hythe, Kent) states in the 

 Field : " On April 6, 1906, a Hoopoe appeared on our 

 lawn, and was our welcome guest on that and the follow- 

 ing days, but on the eighth has not been seen. He spent 

 the greater part of his time on a grass bank, where he 

 seemed to find food to his liking. He used his bill like 

 a pickaxe, and threw up his head to swallow the food. 

 He was not very shy, and one could sometimes get 

 within 4 or 5 yards of him. His arrival caused a great 

 commotion amongst the other birds ; the Thrushes and 

 Blackbirds scolded him, and the Jackdaws chased him 

 round the trunks of the ^elm trees, but they were all 



