popular iitcttonarg of &mmatelr Mature. 325 



obtained with them, many of these birds | its arrival from warmer regions being late 

 feed on berries ; and one species is said to in the year, and its departure early. This 

 pick holes in the bark of trees, and to extract migration, however, is not universal, since 

 insects from them by means of its long it is observed that great numbers of these 



tongue, very much after the manner of the 

 Woodpecker. The truly national work of 

 Mr. Gould, "The Birds of Australia," con- 

 tains figures and descriptions of many spe- 

 cies. Our figure is derived from his work. 

 [See ANTUOCH^ERA : MELIPIIAOA.] 



HOOKTIP [MOTHS]. A name given 

 by collectors to Moths of the genera Drcpana 

 and Platypteryx. 



HOOPOE. (Upupa.') A genus of birds 

 bearing a close relationship to certain forms 

 of the Corvidce or Crow family. The bill is 

 used in the same manner, and for the same 

 purposes, as in the Hornbills ; namely, for 

 seizing insects, &c., squeezing them to death, 

 and throwing them with a jerk into the 

 throat. The tongue is short, and destitute 

 of the power of extension. 



The COMMON or EUROPEAN HOOPOE ( Vpu- 

 pa epops) is an elegant bird, inhabiting the 

 warmer and temperate parts of the old Con- 

 tinent, and migrating occasionally to the 

 British islands. It is about the size of a 

 thrush, but is easily distinguished from it 

 by its head being ornamented with a hand- 

 some crest, composed of cinnamon-coloured 

 feathers of unequal lengths, having a white 

 bar and black tips, which it can expand and 

 depress at pleasure. Its bill is also much 

 longer and more slender, and its feet much 

 shorter. The colour of the head, neck, and 

 body is pale ferruginous, darkest on the back 

 and shoulders : the wings and tail are black, 

 the former crossed by five white bars, the lat- 

 ter crossed in the middle by a white crescent. 

 The Hoopoe feeds on various grubs, worms, 

 &e. ; hence it follows the retreat of the 

 Nile in Egypt, whose neighbouring plains 

 swarm with insect life ; and it also frequents 

 ploughed lands and pasture grounds, like 

 the crows. It is more abundant on the con- 

 tinent of Europe than in Britain ; but its 

 sojourn in temperate climates is but short, 



HOOPOE. (OrtTPA, EPOPS.) 



birds are constantly found about the towns 

 and villages of Egypt, becoming very fa- 

 miliar with man, and building their nests in 

 the immediate vicinity of his habitations. 

 The flight of the Hoopoe is rather slow and 

 undulating ; and it seldom perches on trees. 

 The name of the bird seems to be derived 

 from its continually uttering, in soft and 

 rapid tones, a peculiar sound, resembling 

 hoop, hoop, hoop. 



HOPLOPTERUS. A genus of birds allied 

 to the Plovers ; so named from the bony 

 spine or projection on the shoulder of the 

 wing. There are several species, of which 

 the longest known is the SPUE-WINGED 

 PLOVER of Africa (H. Spinosus). 



HOPPING DICK. The local name given 

 to a species of Thrush (MeruJa, leucogenys\ 

 common in Jamaica, whose lively and fa- 

 miliar manners, as well as his sable plumage, 

 and clear, rich, and mellow song, greatly 

 resemble the English Blackbird. " The fo- 

 rests skirting the mountain are his favourite 

 haunt. If he frequents the open slopes and 

 crests of the hills, he glides from tree to tree, 

 just above the surface of the grass. If he 

 rises above the lower branches of the pi- 

 mento, or into some of the loftier shrubs, it 

 is to visit the Tillandsias, or parasitical wild 

 pines, to drink from within the heart-leaves 

 at those reservoirs of collected dews, which 

 are the only resource of the birds in these 

 high mountains. His dark sooty plumage, 

 his brilliant orange bill, and his habit, when 

 surprised or disturbed, of escaping by running 

 or flying low, and sounding all the while 

 his alarm scream till he gets away into the 

 thicket, completely identify him with the 

 European Blackbird." Gosse. 



HORIAD^E. This family of Coleopterous 

 insects is of very small extent, but the spe- 

 cies are comparatively large, handsomely 

 coloured, and principally confined to tro- 

 pical countries. The larva of one of the 

 species (Horia maculata), an inhabitant of 

 South America and the West Indies, is said 



