CUCULUS CANORUS 



59 



sometimes be seen close to buildings, hunting for insects on dunghills 

 and refuse heaps. 



When on the ground the Hoopoe struts about something after the 

 manner of a pigeon, and when its crest is erected looks very strik- 

 ing, but unless the bird happens to be excited the crest is generally 

 carried folded up at an oblique angle to the crown of the head. 



The soft and rather mournful note of the Hoopoe may be heard at 

 a considerable distance, particularly in the open country far away from 

 human habitations, when it is often the only sound that breaks the 

 stillness of the surroundings ; it may be rendered best by the mono- 

 syllable "poo," softly repeated two or three times. There can be no 

 doubt the bird owes most of its vernacular names as well as its 

 scientific name, to its note and not to its crest. 



Few birds are regarded with more superstitious belief, particularly 

 among the Arabs. Numerous legends are attached to it, one of the 

 prettiest being that the Hoopoe was originally a King's daughter 

 transformed into a bird, bearing on its head a crown of gold, but 

 owing to the weight of the precious metal and the persecution its 

 value entailed on its wearer, a crown of feathers was eventually sub- 

 stituted for the more costly insignia of royalty. The Hoopoe was 

 well known to the ancients, and is one of the species often found 

 depicted on their decorative drawings. 



The Hoopoe generally breeds in a hole in a tree, but occasionally in 

 a crevice of a wall or bank, where it deposits from four to six eggs of 

 a pale marbled-greenish colour, but owing to the filth which seems 

 almost invariably to be found in this bird's nest, the natural colour of 

 the eggs is often scarcely distinguishable, unless they happen to be 

 quite fresh. Average measurements, '2G x 17'50 mm. 



FAMILY CUCULID^. 



CUCULUS CANORUS, Linnseus. 



CUCKOO. 



Cuculus canorus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 168 (1766); Shelley, Cat. Birds 

 Brit. 2Ius. xix, p. 245 ; MaUierbc, Cat. Bats. cVOis. Alg. p. 15 (1846) ; 

 Loche, Expl. Sci. Alg. Ois. ii, p. 76 (1867); Kocnig, J. f. 0. 1888, p. 166; 

 id. J. f. 0. 1892, p. 365 ; Whitaker, Ibis, 1894, p. 95 ; Erlangcr, 

 J. f. 0. 1900, p. 17. 



