HOOPOE. 179 



Wiltshire and Hampshire. In Dorsetshire it has been 

 frequently met with. One specimen has been shot by 

 my friend William Thompson in his garden at Ham- 

 worthy, near Poole, in the latter part of September 

 1827. The injury this bird received from the gun was 

 slight, and on being approached it drew back the head, 

 erected its crest, and lowered its wings, making a show 

 of great resistance, but ultimately allowed itself to be taken 

 up without attempting to inflict any wound. This part 

 of our coast appears to be one of the most favourite haunts 

 of the Hoopoe in this country. In the collection of the 

 Rev. Mr. Barclay at Swanage, which I had the pleasure 

 of seeing in the autumn of 1827, were three Hoopoes, all 

 killed in that vicinity. In Devonshire, the frequent oc- 

 currence of this bird has been recorded by Montagu and 

 Dr. E. Moore. In his Cornish Fauna, Mr. Couch says, 

 " So many specimens have been met with, as to justify me 

 in saying that it is not uncommon in Cor wall. The pe- 

 riods of their visit are about the vernal and autumnal equi- 

 nox, as if performing a regular migration ; and for several 

 years I have noticed the occurrence of one or more speci- 

 mens within a very limited distance of the same spot, an 

 elevated and retired farm near the sea. Two were shot 

 at one time, after they had seemed to have paired ; and 

 in the autumn of 1836 one remained near the farm-yard 

 for about a week, being by no means shy. It seemed to 

 be in moult, having but one or two feathers in the crest." 

 It has also been shot lately at Scilly. It has been killed 

 in south and north Wales, in Lancashire, and in Cumber- 

 land. Mr. Thompson of Belfast informs me this bird has 

 occasionally been killed in different parts of Ireland. 



South east, and north of London, it has been killed in 

 Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and 



N2 



