26 Wild & Tame Hoopoes 



absent or else somewhat depraved. They remind me 

 in this respect of a luncheon party I was once at. It 

 was extremely hot summer weather and in London. 

 There was dressed crab, amongst other delectable 

 dishes ! One lady guest seemed to be enjoying it 

 so much, that when it came to my turn, I too helped 

 myself. One mouthful was not only quite enough, but 

 too much. I looked round the table ; three other 

 guests appeared aghast, portions of the crab untouched 

 upon their plates. 



" Isn't the crab good ? " said the hostess. As no 

 one else spoke, I ventured to say, " Well, I think crabs 

 are very difficult to keep quite fresh in this sort of 

 weather, and fishmongers are not always to be depended 

 upon." My hostess at once turned to the lady whose 

 appreciation of decaying crab had beguiled me into 

 tasting it, and said, " Pray don't eat it." But she was 

 too late, for, like the walrus and the carpenter with the 

 oysters, she'd eaten every bit, and (perhaps with due 

 consistence) stuck to it that her helping was quite good ; 

 yet it was all part of the same old crab ! 



As with people, so with birds ; there are some who 

 prefer freshly killed food ; there are others who don't 

 object to its being decidedly tainted, and hoopoes are 

 perhaps to be numbered among the latter. 



I hold to this because, when a brood of young 

 hoopoes was brought to me by an Arab boy at Assouan, 

 that brood nearly knocked me backwards. But in 

 three days' time, after they had been fed on clean 

 and fresh food, this disgusting smell had all but 

 faded away, and all young hoopoes that I have ever 



