28 NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 



it had been killed some days, and the eyes were sunk, I could 

 make no good observation on the colour of the pupils and the 

 hides. 



The most unusual birds I ever~ ob- 

 served in these parts were a pah- of 

 hoopoes (upupa) which came several 

 years ago in the summer, and fre- 

 quented an ornamented piece of 

 ground, which joins to my garden, 

 for some weeks. They used to march 

 about in a stately manner, feeding in Hoopoe. 



the walks, many times in the day, and seemed disposed to breed 

 in my outlet ; but were frighted and persecuted by idle boys, 

 who would never let them be at rest* 



Three gross-beaks (loxia coccothraustes) appeared some years 

 ago in my fields, in the winter ; one of which I shot : since that, 

 now and then one is occasionally seen in the same dead season.f 



* In " Latham's General Synopsis" there is an account of a young hoopoe (Upupa, vulgaris)) in 

 its nestling plumage, having been shot in this country in the month of May. They have been seen 

 in various parts of Great Britain, from Devonshire to the North of Scotland ; but are extremely 

 rare, though a few probably make their appearance every season. A pair took up their abode in 

 a garden near my residence, but were shot down almost immediately. They hardly ever perch, 

 but find their subsistence almost wholly upon the ground, where they strut about with great 

 stateliness, and feed chiefly if not wholly upon insect food, which they often seek for among 

 the excrements of horses and cattle. Bechstein, who kept several of them in confinement, ob- 

 serves that, " when walking about a room, it makes a continual motion with its head, tapping 

 the floor with its beak, so that it seems as if walking with a stick, at the same time shaking its 

 crest, wings, and tail." They would appear to be remarkably docile in confinement. M. von 

 Schauroth, a correspondent of Bechstein, states of a pair that he kept that " they would never 

 touch earthworms, but were very fond of beetles and may-bugs. These they first killed, and then 

 beat them with the beak into a kind of oblong ball ; this done, they would throw it into the air, 

 and endeavour to catch and swallow it lengthwise. If it fell across the throat they were obliged 

 to begin again, their tongue (which is heart-shaped) being too short to turn the food into the 

 throat." [The same curious habit may be observed in the rollers (Corociew), and in the toucan 

 family (Ramphastidce") , which also have tongues of peculiar make.] The writer continues 

 " Instead of bathing they roll in the sand. I took them one day into a neighbouring field, that 

 they might tatch insects for themselves, and had then an opportunity of remarking their innate 

 fear of birds of prey. No sooner did they perceive a raven, or even a pigeon, than they were on 

 their bellies in an instant, their wings stretched out by the side of the head, so that the large 

 quill-feathers touched ; they were thus surrounded by a sort of crown, formed by the feathers 

 of the tail and wings, the head leaning on the back, with the bill pointing upwards, in which 

 curious position they might easily be taken for an old rag. As soon as the bird that frightened 

 them had passed, they rose up immediately, uttering cries of joy. They were very fond of lying 

 in the sun, and showed their content by repeating, in a quivering tone, ' vec, vec, vec.' When 

 angry, their notes are harsh, and the male (which is known by being of a redder colour) cries 

 * hoop, hoop,' " whence the name of the species. This bird breeds in the holes of trees, laying 

 from two to four speckled eggs in a nest formed of dry cow-dung and small roots, which in 

 course of time becomes extremely fetid with the castings of the young. In autumn they associate 

 in small flocks, frequenting pasture and meadow lands ; and they migrate from Europe in Sep- 

 tember, making their re-appearance about April. ED. 



t The extreme shyness of the haw gross beak in summer prevents its being often seen at that 

 season. I know two or three localities, however, in Surrey, where they annually breed. ED. 



