HOOPOE. 183 



sionally at other times, the long feathers forming the crest 

 were alternately elevated and depressed in a slow and grace- 

 ful manner, the bird assuming an appearance of great 

 vivacity, running on the ground with a very quick step. 

 M. Necker, in his Memoir on the Birds of Geneva, says, 

 Hoopoes fight desperately, and leave the ground covered 

 with their feathers. 



A favourite locality for the Hoopoe on the Continent 

 has thus been described by a correspondent in the Maga- 

 zine of Natural History : " On the Bordeaux side of the 

 Garonne, and near the city, are large spaces of marshy 

 ground, intersected by broad ditches and creeks termi- 

 nating in the river ; where, from the advantage derived 

 from the water, many poplars and willows are planted for 

 the sake of the twigs, which are much used for tying vines. 

 These trees being topped at about ten or twelve feet from 

 the ground, so as to induce them to sprout much, become 

 very thick, and, in the course of a few years, gradually 

 decaying at the centre, are attacked by numerous insects, 

 particularly the jet ant, Formica fuliginosa. In these re- 

 tired places, which are frequented only by a few cowherds 

 and country people, the Hoopoe, which is a very shy bird, 

 may be frequently observed examining the rotten wood, 

 and feeding on the insects with which it abounds. The 

 Hoopoe flies low and seldom, unless when disturbed, its 

 food being so abundant as to require little search. It 

 breeds in a hollow willow about the end of May. The 

 young come out in June ; but I could not ascertain the 

 exact time required for hatching." 



Mr. Gould mentions that a specimen was shot by J. 

 Lullivan, Esq., on the 28th of September, 1832, in his own 

 pleasure-grounds at Broom House, Fulham, only four miles 

 west from London, and a Hoopoe was shot on Barnes Com- 

 mon in 1854. Further west it has been obtained in Wilt- 



