196 GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS 



flew up to the aperture and remained outside on guard 

 for some time. After a little he put his head into the 

 aperture and gave vent to his gentle uk-uk-uk. Then 

 he withdrew his head, remained standing outside the 

 nest aperture for a few minutes and flew off. The hen 

 emerged from the hole a couple of minutes later. 



The next day the cock was bringing food to the nest, 

 and the hen was apparently incubating. On the 7th, 

 8th, gth, loth, and nth I saw the cock still at work 

 feeding the hen, uttering at each visit to the nest a 

 soft coo-coo-coo. From this date I did not see the cock 

 visit the nest again until the 24th, when I saw him 

 fly to the verandah with some food in his mouth, but 

 he emerged from the nest hole without having disposed 

 of the food he was carrying. He then dropped down 

 on to the lawn and gave this to another hoopoe feeding 

 on the grass. From that day onwards I have not seen 

 a hoopoe visit the nest hole in the verandah. It would 

 seem that after sitting on the second batch of eggs a 

 few days the hen hoopoe went on strike ! Or, to speak 

 more correctly, the fury of incubation left her, and 

 she regained her normal taste for a life in the open. 



