INSESSOEES. 115 



it utters at intervals, and which somewhat resembles 

 the winding-up of a clock. 



A curious freak in the nesting of this species has 

 lately come under my notice. A pair of Wrens built 

 their nest on an old stump, and hatched their young. 

 Finding themselves undisturbed, they resorted to 

 the same place the following year, where they found 

 their old nest. Instead of repairing it, however, and 

 using it again, they built another on the top of it, 

 and had thus a "storied" house. The "ground- 

 floor," however, was only visited occasionally, for 

 the little family was brought up in the " first-floor " 

 room. 



HOOPOE, Upupa epops. A rare summer visitant 

 from North Africa. The earliest notice which I 

 have been able to find of its appearance in this 

 county, occurs in Edwards' 'Natural History of 

 Birds,' 1743. That author gives a coloured plate 

 and description of a specimen which had been shot 

 at Norwood, and was presented to him by Dr. 

 Eeeves, President of the College of Physicians. In 

 an old quarto volume, dated 1794, entitled * Por- 

 traits of Rare and Curious Birds, with their de- 

 scriptions, from the Menagerie at Osterley Park,' 

 the author, W. Hayes, referring to a coloured plate 

 of the Hoopoe, says : " This very beautiful bird had 

 been seen several times in this menagerie ; every 

 scheme that could be thought of was put in practice 

 to take it alive, but without eifect ; and as it was 



