THE HOOPOE. 26l 



Occasionally a Hoopoe has been observed in 

 winter in the British Islands, but so rarely as to 

 make the occurrence a matter of note. An in- 

 stance or two of this kind in Norfolk has been 

 noticed by Hunt in his " British Birds" (vol. ii. 

 p. 147) ; and Mr. R. Gray, in his " Birds of the 

 West of Scotland," p. 198, refers to two which 

 were killed near Glasgow, in different years, so 

 late as the month of October. 



The late Sir William Jardine informed me 

 that two were shot in Dumfriesshire in the 

 winter of 1870-71. 



The most perfect specimen of the Hoopoe I 

 have ever seen is one in my collection, which 

 was shot at the Dell, a piece of water near 

 Whetstone, Middlesex, on the 25th April, 1852. 

 It has no less than twenty-two crest feathers 

 the longest two inches in length, arranged in two 

 parallel rows, with the upper surfaces outwards, 

 and of a pale cinnamon colour broadly tipped 

 with black. The other portions of the plumage 

 are equally perfect and bright in colour. 



