84 GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS 



little creatures. When feeding they behave as if 

 they were in a violent hurry. The modus operandi 

 is a hasty tap of the bill here and another there, and 

 if these reveal nothing promising, a few hurried steps, 

 then more probing. The majority of these tappings 

 and probings reveal nothing, but every now and then 

 a spot is discovered beneath which an ant-lion, earth- 

 worm, or other creature lies buried. Then the fun 

 waxes fast and furious ; the hoopoe begins to excavate 

 in real earnest, and plies its bill as eagerly as a terrier 

 scratches away the loose earth that conceals its re- 

 treating quarry. After a few seconds this strenuous 

 probing and digging usually results in some creature 

 being dragged out of the earth. This is swallowed by 

 the hoopoe after a little manipulation rendered 

 necessary by the length of the bird's bill. Having 

 disposed of its quarry the insatiable hoopoe passes 

 on, without a pause, to seek for further victims. 

 With twenty or thirty hoopoes thus at work, day 

 after day, it is strange that the insect store of my lawn 

 does not become exhausted. 



While the hoopoe is feeding, its fan-like crest remains 

 tightly closed. This attitude of the crest denotes 

 business. The corona of the hoopoe is as mobile as 

 are the ears of a horse. There is more expression in 

 it than in the face of many a man or woman. 



Mynas are, of course, always to be found on the 

 lawn, but as these birds feed largely on grasshoppers, 

 they seek their food by preference amid grass which 

 is drier and longer than that of my lawn. 



At the time when the grass is irrigated numbers 



