SOME BIRD NOTABILITIES 225 



would select to dine upon when he came down, 

 he was startled to hear a piping squeak a few 

 yards above him ; this came from the wren, 

 who had been sitting on his majesty's back 

 all the time, and was now taking his unfair 

 advantage and trying to break the record. 

 Of course, says the tale, neither the eagle nor 

 the other birds would admit the claim of 

 this impudent little rascal, but the wren has 

 gone about proclaiming himself as king of 

 the birds ever since, and several European 

 languages give him the title of king at the 

 present day. 



But of all the European birds the one which 

 seems most suitable to have fairy-tales told 

 about it is the lovely hoopoe, which looks as 

 if it were some magic bird, with its beautiful 

 cinnamon crest, and the black and white 

 wings, which make it look like a butterfly 

 as it flies. It is a bird that no one can help 

 noticing, and I find that at the Zoo people 

 are more interested in it even than in the 

 gorgeous birds of paradise, even though few 

 of them know that the hoopoe is really an 

 English bird, coming to us every year, and even 

 sometimes rearing a brood here, when a stray 



29 



