258 OUR SUMMER MIGRANTS. 



I cannot help thinking that a bird observed 

 in the act of calling whilst picking vip food, as 

 many species do, has given rise to the notion 

 that the sound is produced by tapping, whereas 

 in truth it precedes and follows the movement. 

 The only motion that I could ever detect in a 

 Hoopoe whilst calling was a nodding of the 

 head, and a depression of the crest-feathers. 



From the accounts which have been handed 

 down to us by old 'authors, and the numerous 

 specimens which may be seen preserved in old 

 collections, it would appear that the Hoopoe was 

 formerly much more plentiful in England than 

 it is at the present day. The decrease in its 

 numbers probably arises from two causes, viz., 

 the clearance of forest land, entailing the de- 

 struction of many old trees which were once 

 attractive as nesting places, 1 and the increased 

 use of fire-arms which unfortunately results in 



1 Mr. Benzon of Copenhagen informed my friend Mr. 

 Dresser that a short time ago the Hoopoe was by no means 

 rare in Norway, but now that the forests have been cleared 

 of all the old and hollow trees it has entirely vanished from 

 the fauna of his district. 



