140 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 
it should be in an aviary, not in a cage. They do not 
care to bathe, but roll themselves in sand like Larks or 
Partridges, and they should always be given something, 
such as earth or turf, to dig their bills into. Two of the 
‘few species of Hoopoes known are found in India, and 
both are common birds, and probably not distinguished 
from each other by the casual observer. 
Tur EvropEaAN Hoopor (Upupa epops). This bird is 
about a foot long, of which the bill measures more than 
two inches. The wings and back are banded broadly 
with black and white; the tail is black with a white 
crescent of which the convexity is towards the root; the 
belly is white with dark streaks and the rest of the 
plumage sandy buff, warming into cinnamon on the crest, 
which is tipped with black; but on the longest feathers 
there is a white space before the black tip. 
This bird is found in summer all across the temperate 
parts of the Old World, migrating south in winter, at 
which time itis found in and about Calcutta. It only 
breeds with us in the Western Himalayas, in the months 
of April and May, laying from four to seven eggs. This 
is the Hoopoe par excellence, the subject of so many 
legends: for it has always attracted the attention of man 
from its curious appearance and gestures. The Romans 
knew it as Upupa, and the Greeks as Hpops, so that its 
scientific name is most happily classical—a pleasing relief 
to the barbarisms of most scientific nomenclature. It 
visits England yearly, and has been known to breed 
there when allowed to live long enough, whichis not often, 
as itis usually shot down onsight. It isa pity that 
