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ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



mous or rather notorious in the folk-lore of 

 many European countries. Although the 

 great majority of stories of eagles which 

 attack human beings are based on myths, yet 

 there are authenticated cases of deaths from 

 the rush of this bird of prey. Its method of 

 attack is as follows: When a lamb is brows- 

 ing near the edge of a precipice, a lammerge- 

 ier will swoop down from empty space with 

 a terrific rush, striking tlie animal with its 

 feet and hurling it headlong to the rocks be- 

 neath. A child, or even a man, standing near 

 the edge of some great mountain abyss would 

 have little chance of avoiding such an unex- 

 pected assault from the air above. 



The fierce appearance of the bird is in- 

 creased by the eyes, the irises of which are 

 light orange, surrounded by a band of bril- 

 liant scarlet, giving a permanent bloodshot 

 look, which adds a unique character to the 

 bird's head. Shepherds have systematically 

 poisoned this bird until it has disappeared 

 from the Swiss Alps and many other places 

 in Europe. It is still found in Persia, Pales- 

 tine and the Himalayas. The name "bearded" 

 is appropriate because of the tuft of black, 

 bristle-like feathers extending downward and 

 forward from the chin. The lanmiergeier is 

 grayish-black above and tawny-orange below, 

 while the crown and sides of the face are 

 white. A single egg is laid in February, on 

 an enormous pile of sticks placed in a cleft 

 of some inaccessible cliff. 



Not the least curious trait of the lanmier- 

 geier is its fondness for bones. It is not 

 the marrow which attracts the bird but the 

 substance of the bone itself. The small bones 

 it swallows whole, and when it can secure 

 them, good-sized splinters of large bones are 

 also taken with the greatest apparent relish. 

 They are soon digested, and, no matter how 

 sharp, seem to cause the lammergeier no in- 

 convenience whatever. 



Far less in size, but in its way of quite as 

 great interest, is the hoopoe, a bird no larger 

 than a robin, which we may see in its cage, 

 sitting quietly on its perch with head and 

 wings drawn in closely, and showing so little 

 of any unusual appearance, that the average 

 visitor would hardly give it a second glance. 

 But, when it leaps into the air and suddenly 

 takes a short flight about the cage, a remark- 

 able change takes place. A tall slender crest 

 shoots upward into a wide spread fan of feath- 

 ers, barred with orange, black and white, and 

 the same colors blaze forth from its expanded 

 wings. As it hovers in mid-air, the wings 

 beat rapidly, forming a haze of bright color 

 about the bodv, while the head is turned from 



side to side, exposing the crest in all direc- 

 tions. The general appearance is of a large 

 and brightly colored butterfly. Then it slowly 

 sinks to rest on the perch or on the ground, 

 and quickly alights, shutting wings and crest, 

 and as a candle is snufifed out by the wind, 

 so do the colors vanish, and in their place is 

 a small ball of sand-colored feathers, hardly 

 distinguishable from the surrounding gravel. 

 The little mound of drab and grav might, in a 

 field, be taken for one among a hundred simil- 

 arly-hued clods or stones. The transforma- 

 tion is magical, and as astonishing as if there 

 were actuallv two very different species of 

 birds in the cage, differing radically in color 

 and temperament. 



The hoopoe nests over much of Europe and 

 Siberia, and in winter migrates south to Africa. 

 Although so beautiful in appearance, its nest- 

 ing habits are anything but pleasant, and its 

 nest usually is a dirty, ill-smelling aff'air. In 

 the interest of its relationships it makes up 

 for this. A study of its anatomy leaves no 

 room for doubt, that it claims close kin with 

 the gigantic-beaked hornbills. The bill of 

 the hoopoe is long, slender and curved, well 

 adapted for probing in the soil for grubs and 

 earth-worms, and we can compare it with the 

 enormous appendage of the hornbill only to 

 show how unlike the bills of two related birds 

 can be. Even in the action of eating, the affin- 

 ity is suggested, for the hoopoe throws its 

 food into the air and catches it with a swallow 

 as in the case of the hornbill. Again, as the 

 latter bird walls in its mate while she is sit- 

 ting on the eggs, and faithfully feeds her 

 throughout the entire period of incubation, so 

 the hoopoe carries food to his mate while she 

 is on the nest, a habit not common among 

 birds, especially before the young are hatched. 

 Hoopoes are rare in captivity as they are deli- 

 cate and hard to keep in health, but the bird 

 at the Zoological Park seems to be strong and 

 well, after si.x months of residence in the new- 

 Bird House, The common name is given on 

 account of the cry of the bird and the German 

 name wicdcrkopf refers to the constant jerk- 

 ing motion of the head and neck. The scien- 

 tific name is Ufupa cpops, the first being the 

 word which the Romans used to indicate the 

 call note of the bird, and the latter being the 

 Greek name for the bird itself. 



Another bird which because of its rarity in 

 addition to its strange appearance is a notable 

 accession to the collection is a magnificant 

 ultramarine or hyacinthine macaw. This bird 

 is seldom seen in captivity alive, and when one 

 comes into a dealer's hands, it commands from 

 one to two hundred dollars. Little is known 



