276 HOOPOE. 



Sweden and in Denmark it breeds sparingly, though in the latter its 

 numbers liave diminished owing to the eradication of the old hollow 

 trees in the forests. Southward it is generally distributed through- 

 out Europe, wherever there are swampy woods and timber-fringed 

 meadows suitable to its habits : while in the countries bordering the 

 Mediterranean and Black Seas it is abundant and almost ubiquitous, 

 being especially numerous at the periods of migration. It is found in 

 the Azores and ^Madeira, and is common in the Canaries (where 

 some are resident). Northern Africa, Egypt, Nubia, and eastward 

 throughout the greater part of Asia to China and Japan ; its most 

 southern winter-quarters being, as far as is known, in Abyssinia and 

 Senegal. 



A hole in the decayed wood of some hollow tree — frequently a 

 willow or ash — is usually selected; and the slight materials of which 

 the nest is composed are generally surrounded or cemented by 

 ordure of some kind, causing an intolerable stench, which is subse- 

 quently increased by the droppings of the female and of the young. 

 Sometimes a crevice in a wall or rock is made use of; in China holes 

 in exposed coffins are occupied ; and Pallas found a nest in the 

 chest of a rotting corpse loosely covered with stones. The eggs, 

 4-7 in number, are pale greenish-blue when first laid, but later they 

 become greenish-olive : average measurements i in. by 7 in. The 

 food consists of worms, insects and their larv?e — especially those 

 which are found in dung — and flies, which are taken on the wing. 

 The movements of the Hoopoe are graceful, particularly at the time 

 of courtship, when the bird struts about with crest erect, uttering a 

 note resembling a soft Im-hn (whence the Spanish term " abubilla ") 

 or hoop-hoop^ to which, and not to the crest, it owes its English and 

 French names. The flight is undulating. 



The general plumage of the adult is pale cinnamon on the head, 

 shoulders and under parts ; the long, erectile crest-feathers richer in 

 tint and tipped with black ; wing-feathers black, broadly barred with 

 white, and striped with buff on the inner secondaries ; lower back 

 barred with black, while and buff; tail black, with a broad white bar 

 across the centre, and descending. towards the tips on the outer pair 

 of feathers ; the long, slightly decurved bill is black, flesh-coloured at 

 the base ; feet dusky-brown. Length from base of bill nearly 10 in. ; 

 wing 6 in The female is rather smaller, duller in plumage, and has 

 less crest. The young bird has a shorter bill, and the colours are 

 not so rich. 



