116 EUROPEAN HOOPOE. 



ment of the quill-feathers our bird agrees with the 

 European. 



The European Hoopoe arrives in small flocks, in 

 Sicily, during the spring and autumnal migration, 

 where w r e have repeatedly shot it. The assertion 

 that it is then sufficiently abundant to purify the 

 air, by devouring putrid substances, is such an ab- 

 surd fable, that, but for its having been recently 

 repeated in one of our " popular" compilations*, 

 we should hardly have thought it worth refuting ; 

 on the contrary, it is a very cleanly bird, feeding 

 only upon live worms and insects, which it seeks 

 for in the most retired shades. It is, in short, by 

 no means common ; and as it does not breed, as we 

 believe, in the Mediterranean, we have never seen 

 its nest. 



Total length, about 9J inches ; bill, from the 

 base, If; wings, 5; tail, from the base, 3. 



* Mudie's British Birds. 



