PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 435 



occurs in small numbers between the middle of April and the middle of 

 May (cf. the preceding paragraph ; and Gatke, Vogelwarte Helgoland, Eng. trans., 

 1895, p. 437). Single examples are all that our area generally affords, but " small 

 flights" of hoopoes have occasionally been recorded (cf. Nelson, B. of York*., 1907, 

 p. 286). [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. The usual site is in a rather narrow crack or hole in a 

 tree, sometimes close to the ground and at other times as much as twenty feet or 

 more above it. Willows and olives are frequently made use of, but where old trees 

 are scarce the hoopoe will breed in holes in stone or mud walls, in drains or crevices 

 in rocks. Other abnormal sites are mentioned on p. 440. In most cases there is no 

 nesting material, while in some, bits of straw, stalks, roots, or feathers are carelessly 

 arranged, but excrement, human, bovine, and equine, is often found in the nest- 

 hole, which is also much befouled by the droppings of the young. The eggs are 

 usually 5 to 10 in number, while 12 are said to have been found in one nest. They 

 are rather elongated in shape as a rule, and pale greenish blue, or brownish yellow 

 in colour when fresh, in some cases dotted with small punctures showing the light- 

 coloured shell beneath. Owing to the foul condition of the nest they readily become 

 stained. Average size of 100 eggs, 1*01 x -70 in. [25-9 x 17 '9 mm.]. Incubation is 

 carried on by the hen alone, and begins before the clutch is completed. According 

 to Naumann it lasts for 16 days. The average breeding time in the Mediter- 

 ranean region is from the last days of April to the second week of May : in Middle 

 Europe about a week or ten days later. Nests reported from Sweden in July are 

 probably second layings. Only one brood is reared in the season. [F. o. B. J.] 



5. Food. In hot climates most of the food of this bird consists of Coleoptera 

 and their larvae, which it extracts from dung by means of its long pointed bill, making 

 innumerable small holes for this purpose. Large numbers of Orthoptera and their 

 larvae are also devoured, as well as centipedes and ants. In temperate climates 

 grubs and worms are extracted from turf in the same way by boring with the bill, and 

 a manure-heap is a great attraction. Ants, the larvae of certain Diptera (Tipula, 

 etc.) and Lepidoptera (Noctucc, etc.), as well as woodlice, also form part of its diet, 

 and on migration it was observed by Sperling and Kriiper to take flies on the 

 wing. For details see Eckstein, Aus dem Walde, xvii. No. 46, p. 361 ; Naumann, 

 Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mittdeuropas, iv. p. 384, etc. [F. c. B. J.] 



6. Song- Period. The call is heard immediately on its arrival in its breeding- 

 haunts, and is continued in all probability till the young are hatched, but I can find 

 no definite information as to when it ceases. [F. o. B. J.] 



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