HOOPOE 



COMMON HOOPOE. 



PLATE XLL FIGURES II. III. 

 Upupa epops, LINNAEUS. 



Hoopoe is an occasional visitant, generally in the 

 1 spring or autumn, to the south of England and to Ire- 

 land. It has been known to breed in Dorset, Hants, 

 Sussex, Surrey, and Northamptonshire. 



The nest, built in May, is placed in the hollow of a tree 

 or a crevice of a wall, and is composed of dry stalks of 

 grass, leaves, and feathers. In China Swinhoe states that 

 the bird often breeds in the holes of exposed Chinese coffins, 

 a proceeding which brings the bird into evil repute by the 

 natives, who call it the "Coffin-bird." 



The eggs vary from four to seven in number, and are of 

 a pale bluish grey, faintly speckled with brown. They vary 

 considerably to olive, lavender, grey, and stone colours. 



After the young leave the nest, which usually reeks 

 offensively with ordure, they assemble in the immediate 

 vicinity, and are long and sedulously attended to by their 

 parents. 



