THE HOOPOE. 69 



shades, tinged by beautifully reflected lights. As 

 its name implies, it lives chiefly upon bees, which it 

 catches on the wing. 



The Hoopoe is another elegant bird, very scarce, 

 but not quite so rare as the Bee-Eater. One was 

 not long ago caught on Salisbury Plain, in a weak 

 and exhausted state; it must have come from a 

 distance, as its beak was filled w r ith red clay, of a 

 quality not found in that neighbourhood. If fatigued 

 from the journey it had performed, the distance 

 must have been very great, for one approached a 

 vessel in the middle of the Atlantic, and kept com- 

 pany with it a good way, but did not settle on board, 

 which it probably would have done had it been 

 tired. 



It is common in some parts of the Continent, and 

 by no means wild, for we have seen it on the ground, 

 and on the trees, in a public Avalk at Seville, but is 

 most abundant in Egypt and Arabia, w T here they 

 are called the children of Solomon, from a tradition 

 that they formed part of the cargo of the " navy of 

 Tharshish," bringing to him from Ophir " gold and 

 silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks." 1 Kings x. 22. 

 It is currently believed by the people of the country, 

 that its crest was then a crow r n of gold, but that the 

 avidity of mankind for this precious metal occasion- 

 ing the birds to be often killed for their crowns, 

 they assembled together, and represented their case 

 to Solomon himself. This monarch, in his great 

 wisdom, understood the languages of all animals, as 

 well as of all people, on the face of the earth; and 

 hearing, and pitying their case, he prayed to their 

 Creator to ameliorate their destiny, when the crown 



