360 



EASTERN ETHIOPIA 



XXIX 



a nest in a hole in a tree or wall, using foul material 

 its construction. It takes no pains to keep the 



in 



nest clean during incubation and the neighbourhood 

 of the nest becomes unpleasant and often intolerable 

 to man. In the autumn hoopoes when fat are esteemed 



The European Hoopoe (Upupa epops) visits the Nile Valley and 

 British East Africa. 



as delicacies, especially by the Christian population of 

 Constantinople (Newton), and Arabs impute to this bird, 

 especially its head, medicinal virtues. There is a fable 

 connected with the hoopoe : Allah granted to Epops a 

 golden crest, but at the bird's request changed it for one 

 of feathers. 



