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without actually having observed it. The long pendent crest, 

 capable of being erected at pleasure, of a rich orange-brown 

 colour, edged with black, the black-barred wings and tail, 

 and the body of a clear reddish gray, give it an appearance 

 at once novel and interesting to the beholder. Described 

 centuries ago by Ovid, he has beautifully depicted its trans- 

 formation and appearance : 



" Tereus, through grief and haste to be revenged, 

 Shares the like fate, and to a bird is changed ; 

 Fixed on his head the crested plumes appear, 

 Long is his beak, and sharpened as a spear." 



The hoopoe was also well known to Aristotle and Pliny, and 

 occurs in their works upon the subject. This species has 

 come under our own notice in five separate instances, all of 

 which passed through the hands of Mr. Glennon, the well- 

 known taxidermist. In the vicinity of Rouen we had also the 

 pleasure of observing a hoopoe apparently engaged picking 

 seeds upon the ground in the neighbourhood of a farm-house. 

 The crest was carried so close to the head as to cause doubt, 

 for a short time, of its identity, the bird presenting an ap- 

 pearance so slight. Amongst the many birds which grace the 

 cages of the dealers in Paris, the hoopoe is a favourite, and at 

 the grand " entrepot," from whence the tradesman and the 

 grisette are supplied with their favourite birds, and grisettes of 

 a more advanced age with their eternal poodle dog, we see 

 the hoopoe exposed for sale, with numbers of shrikes, wood- 

 peckers, and other rare visitants to our own country. 



Fond of variety in many things as are the French, they 

 extend a particle of it to the locality chosen by their u mar- 

 chands des oiseaux." Situated on one of the quays in the most 

 populous part of Paris, the cages are placed in close order 

 along a dead wall (truly so, for it is one of the divisions of 

 La Morgue), against the other side of which the bodies of 

 the unclaimed dead are resting. There the dainty grisette, 

 bargaining with some dealer, expatiating on the hidden value 

 of some small song-bird, takes a turn in La Morgue, and looks 

 at the new arrivals whilst she makes up her mind regarding 

 its purchase. 



By the Arabs the claim of the lapwing is disputed as not 

 being the bird Mahomet intended to have meant in the Koran, 

 and the hoopoe is thus called upon to receive the honours 

 assigned, of being the messenger of the amorous Queen of 

 Sheba. The nest is formed in hollow or decayed trees, and 

 the number of the eggs average from two to three, pale bluish- 

 white in colour. 

 Habitat Northern Africa. 



