424 



it would seem, without any bedding, but often the old nest 

 of a Starling or other bird is used, or possibly fresh twigs, 

 grass and the like are added. The Hoopoe, however, is not 

 content with this : the furnishing of its nursery is nearly 

 always completed by introducing some of the foulest material 

 that can be conceived ; and the hen, it would appear, scarcely 

 ever leaves the nest for the sixteen days of her incubation, 

 the cock assiduously feeding her at the hole's mouth. Things 

 become worse when the young are hatched, for their faeces 

 are discharged all around, producing, in warm climates espe- 

 cially, an indescribable stench.* The eggs, from four to 

 seven in number, are of elongate form, with a dull surface 

 minutely pitted, the sides of the hollows shewing white, but 

 otherwise uniform in colour. When first laid, says Lord 

 Lilford^they are of a fine pale greenish-blue ; but, as ordinarily 

 seen, some are of a lavender-grey, others pale olive, while 

 again others have a distinctly reddish tinge. They measure 

 from 1-08 to -96 by from '74 to -68 in. 



The Hoopoe soon becomes tame in captivity, and even, it 

 is said, strongly attached to its keeper, while its lively actions 

 render it an amusing tenant of the aviary. But without 

 great care it does not long endure prison-life, and one of its 

 chief requirements seems to be plenty of sand in which it can 

 roll itself. Blyth states (Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 2, ii. p. 597) 

 that in 1838 a pair " built and incubated" in the menagerie 

 at Knowsley. Notwithstanding its nauseous mode of feed- 

 ing, this bird, which towards autumn becomes very fat, is 

 deemed a delicacy in many parts of the south of Europe, and 

 especially by the Greeks of Constantinople. To Jews and 



bant," in the chest of a rotting corpse that had been loosely covered with stones. 

 In China, says Swinhoe (Ibis, 1860, p. 49), Hoopoes often breed in the holes of 

 exposed coffins, whence the people call them by a name meaning "Coffin-bird." 



* Some of this is denied by Naumann, but, it would seem, by him alone, and 

 the assertions in the text are corroborated by many witnesses. In Central 

 Germany, where his observations were chiefly made, it is indeed probable that 

 matters are not so bad as in more southern countries, and it is quite likely that 

 if a pair of Hoopoes were again suffered to breed with us they would not be 

 found to be any nuisance to their neighbours. Certainly in the few instances 

 recorded, no disgust appears to have been felt, and no complaint made. How- 

 ever, "Sale comme une Huppe" is a French proverb. 



