58 PICARIAN BIRDS. 



of timber. Like the hornbills, the female has the habit of sitting very closely 

 on her eggs, during which period she is fed by her mate. Lord Lilford writes 

 that hoopoes generally " prefer a hole, in a hollow ash or willow for nesting in ; 

 but I have seen a nest on the ground under a large stone, others in holes on the 

 sunny side of mud or brick walls, one in a fissure of limestone rock, and one in 

 a small cavern. The eggs when first laid are of a beautiful pale greenish 

 blue, but soon become stained and dirty, so that the average hoopoe's egg is 

 of a dirty yellow colour. Swinhoe, again, writing from China, observes that 

 "many years ago a pair of hoopoes took possession of a hole in the city wall 

 at Amoy, near my house. The hen sat close until the young were hatched, the 

 male frequently supplying her with food during the day. Hoopoes have often 

 bred in the holes of exposed Chinese coffins; the natives hence have an objection 

 to them, and brand them as the ' coffin-bird/ The young, when hatched, are 

 naked, but soon get covered with small blue quills, which yield the feathers. 

 The little creature has a short bill, and crouches forward, making a hissing 

 noise. It looks a strange compound of the young wryneck and kingfisher. They 

 do not stand upright till nearly fledged. Their crests develop at once, but their 

 bills do not acquire their full length till the following year." A correspondent 

 of Blyth's at Calcutta, who was one of the first to draw attention to the circum- 

 stance of the nesting hen being fed by the cock, writes that two pairs of these 

 birds, nesting in his veranda, became so tame that his presence never disturbed 

 them in the least; and he twice saw the males with the females just at the 

 bottom of the steps, and within ten yards of where he was sitting. " I was there- 

 fore," he continues, " thoroughly familiar with them, and can assert most positively 

 that for a number of days I never saw the female of either pair out. I did not 

 pay any attention at first to the circumstance of there being only two flying about, 

 until I observed both males going up to the nest with gnats in their bills, giving a 

 call, and then putting their heads inside for the hens to take the food. The feeding- 

 times were morning and evening, at regular hours the former about seven or eight 

 o'clock, and again in the afternoon about four o'clock. I have seen the males 

 getting the gnats, etc., close under the very steps I was sitting on, and almost 

 within two yards of my chair, then flying up, giving a call, and coming down again 

 directly the food was taken. The nests were at opposite ends of the veranda, 

 and only one of the broods came out. I saw some time ago a notice in the Field, 

 mentioning the dirty state of the nest, before this could have been caused by the 

 young; and, if my idea is correct, the explanation is simple. I never saw the 

 males go inside the holes in which the nests were, and I never saw either of the 

 females outside during the time they were hatching, though of course it is possible 

 they may have gone out. If I should live, I will, next spring, observe more 

 carefully ; but it was a good while before I noticed the absence of the females this 

 year. Last year I had one nest only in the veranda, and another in the veranda 

 of my office. The hoopoe, I know, breeds in France ; and possibly you may be 

 able to find out if any notice of this fact has been taken." And in a second 

 communication he adds : " In continuation of my letter of last year, I may mention 

 that there were again this spring two hoopoe's nests in my veranda, and in the 

 same place. I find that the hens do leave the nest once or twice a day, but I have 



