184 CERTHIADJ:. 



shire and Hampshire. The President of the Linnean 

 Society, the possessor of Selborne, saw a fine Hoopoe in 

 May, 1853, when driving from Selborne to Alton. In 

 Dorsetshire it has been frequently met with. One speci- 

 men was shot by my friend William Thompson in his 

 garden at Hamworthy, near Poole, in the latter part of 

 September, 1827. The injury this bird received from the 

 gun was slight, and on being approached it drew back the 

 head, erected its crest, and lowered its wings, making a 

 show of great resistance, but ultimately allowed itself to 

 be taken up without attempting to inflict any wound. This 

 part of our coast appears to be one of the most favourite 

 haunts of the Hoopoe in this country. In the collection 

 of the Rev. Mr. Barclay, at Swanage, which I had the 

 pleasure of seeing in the autumn of 1827, were three 

 Hoopoes, all killed in that vicinity. In Devonshire, the 

 frequent occurrence of this bird has been recorded by Mon- 

 tagu and Dr. E. Moore ; and Mrs. Bray, in her description 

 of the part of Devonshire bordering on the Tamar and the 

 Tavy, states (vol. i. p. 350), that a nest, with four young 

 ones, was taken in a wood close to a house at Morwell, in 

 the parish of Tavistock. In his Cornish Fauna, Mr. Couch 

 says, " So many specimens have been met with, as to jus- 

 tify me in saying that it is not uncommon in Cornwall. 

 The periods of their visit are about the vernal and autumnal 

 equinox, as if performing a regular migration ; and for 

 several years I have noticed the occurrence of one or more 

 specimens within a very limited distance of the same spot, 

 an elevated and retired farm near the sea. Two were shot 

 at one time, after they had seemed to have paired ; and in 

 the autumn of 1836 one remained near the farm -yard for 

 about a week, being by no means shy. It seemed to be in 

 moult, having but one or two feathers in the crest." It 



