HOOPOE 259 



seven recorded in the Zoologist for June, would seem to 

 evince that this ' fair feathered one ' is becoming yearly 

 more partial to our clime ; but how annoying it is to the 

 real lover of Nature, to learn that no sooner does that 

 occasional visitant take up its abode with us, than it is 

 shot by the hand of someone, whose heart wars with the 

 outward world of beauty, and whose mind is too bloody 

 to appreciate the perfect form of the Hoopoe, or any 

 other created thing. Is it not a disgrace to our 

 naturalists, to our magazine of Natural History, to every 

 enlightened man, this daily butchery of rare and 

 beauteous birds ? " 



In the Zoologist, 1852, Mr. J. W. Hulke contributed 

 the following article on the habits of the Hoopoe : — 



" I send you a few remarks on the habits of the 

 Hoopoe, several of which birds have occurred near Deal 

 during the last month, I saw one on the 6th, and two 

 on the 24th (April) ; one of these I shot and the other 

 was shot by a friend. On the 26th, two were seen on 

 some rising land three miles from here, and another 

 occurred at Canterbury. The three I saw were on the 

 sand-hills, a dry, sandy, hillocky slip of land, flanked by 

 the sea on one side, on the other side by marshes extend- 

 ing from Sandown Castle to the mouth of the River Stour, 

 and covered chiefly with tufts of long coarse grass. For 

 many weeks the wind had been east and north-east ; and 

 coming through the sand-hills on April 6, I saw a Hoopoe, 

 which, crossing the hills from the sea, passed over a 

 hedge into a bean-field. Its actions were quick; it ran 

 very swiftly for short distances, then pecked the ground, 

 raised its crest and ran again. It flew for about 70 yards 

 close to the ground, with a very buoyant flight, and 

 rather slowly, but when flushed its flight was rather lofty 



