288 



Birds. 



America, where it migrates to the north in summer, and 

 is there seen even in Canada and the country of Hudson's 

 Bay. 



THE HOOPOE. (Upupa epops.) 



THIS is a small bird, measuring no more than twelve 

 inches from the point of the bill to the end of the tail. 

 The bill is sharp, black, and somewhat bending. The 

 head is adorned with a very beautiful, large moveable 

 crest, a kind of bright halo, the radiation of which places 

 the head nearly in the centre of a golden circle. This 

 pleasing ornament, which the bird sets up or lets fall at 

 pleasure, is composed of a double row of feathers, reach- 

 ing from the bill to the nape of the neck, which is of a 

 pale red. The breast is white, with black streaks tend- 

 ing downwards; the wings and back are varied with 

 white and black cross-lines. The food of the Hoopoe 

 consists chiefly of insects, with the remains of which its 

 nest is sometimes so filled as to become extremely offen- 

 sive. This beautifully-crested bird is not at all common 

 in this country, and is solitary, two of them being seldom 



