432 FIORNBILL 
of a tree or of a wall, is not only partly composed of the foulest 
material, but its condition becomes worse as incubation proceeds, 
for the hen scarcely ever leaves her eggs, being assiduously fed by 
the cock as she sits; and when the young are hatched, their feces 
are not removed by their parents,! as is the case with most birds, 
but are discharged in the immediate neighbourhood of the nest, the 
unsanitary condition of which can readily be imagined. Worms, 
grubs, and insects generally, form the Hoopoes’ food, and upon it 
they get so fat in autumn that they are esteemed a delicate morsel in 
some of the countries of Southern Europe, and especially by the 
Christian population of Constantinople.” 
Not a year passes but the Hoopoe makes its appearance in some 
part or other of Britain, most often in spring, and if unmolested 
would doubtless stop to breed here, for a few instances are known 
in which it has done so. But its remarkable plumage always 
attracts attention: it is generally shot so soon as it is seen, and 
before it has time to begin a nest, which there is reason to think 
would not in a temperate climate become so offensive a nuisance as 
it is in more southern latitudes. Eight or nine so-called species of 
the genus have been described, but the existence of five only can 
be established (Dresser, B. Hur. v. p. 184). Beside the Upupa 
epops above treated, these are U. indica, resident in India and 
Ceylon ; U. longirostris, which seems to be the form of the Indo- 
Chinese countries; U. marginata, peculiar to Madagascar; and U. 
africana or minor, which inhabits South Africa to the Zambesi on 
the east and Benguela on the west coast. In habits and appearance 
they all resemble the best-known and most widely-spread species, 
and their particular differences need not be here pointed out.? 
HORNBILL, the English name long ago given to all the birds 
of the Family Bucerotidz of modern ornithologists, from the extra- 
ordinary horn-like excrescence (epithema) developed on the bill of 
most of the species, though to which of them it was first applied 
seems doubtful. Among classical authors Pliny had heard of such 
animals, and mentions them (Hist. Nat. lib. x. cap. xlix.) under the 
name of Zragopan; but he deemed their existence fabulous, com- 
paring them with Pegasi and Gryphones—in the words of Holland, 
1 This indeed is denied by Naumann, but by him alone; and the statement 
in the text is confirmed by many eye-witnesses. 
2 Under the name of Dukipath, in the authorized version of the Bible trans. 
lated ‘‘ Lapwing” (Lev. xi. 19, Deut. xiv. 18), the Hoopoe was accounted un- 
clean by the ‘‘ Jewish law.” Arabs have a great reverence for the bird, imputing 
to it marvellous medicinal and other qualities, and making use of its head in 
their charms (cf. Tristram, Nat. Hist. of the Bible, pp. 208, 209). 
8 The genera Rhinopomastus and Irrisor are generally placed in the Family 
Upupide, but Dr. Murie (/.c.), after an exhaustive examination of their osteology, 
regards them as forming a group of equal value. 
