45



It was evident that ray original guide knew what he was about,

for he at once turned to me and pointed into the fissure. With

much difficulty, and after nearly frizzling off the tip of ray nose,

I at last discerned, about four feet in, a Hoopoe. The fissure

was so narrow that even she could not stand upright. There was

such a flooring of sand and small stones within that it was

impossible, b}^ the light of one candle, which cast shadows of

every shape and form, to see whether there were au} r eggs or

young ones ; but when I attempted to state my disbelief in their

existence, I was met by a hurricane of denials—“ Young ones,

young ones.” At first I thought that with the usual ignorance

of the Egyptian (or Nubian) countryman about birds, he was

under the impression that the undoubted adult bird was a young

one, and consequently vehemently denied his assertion.


But no ! again he said “ Young ones, young ones,” whilst

the other boys caught up the refrain in chorus. And he was

right: for, cutting a long and slender palm branch, which he

inserted into the innermost depths of the fissure just in front

of the poor frightened Hoopoe, he gradually and with much

difficulty scooped towards the opening, a poor wretched little

bird of a few hours old, which was rolled over and over on the

rocky flooring until it was within reach of his arm. It seemed

futile to attempt to rear it by hand, and equally so to push it

back into the depths of the rocky nest ; so I took it, and kept it

alive for twenty-four hours, during which time it fed well, and

really collapsed I believe from suffocation, having wriggled its

poor small pink body into a deep fold of the flannel in which it

had been wrapped, so that its wobbly head was bent under its

breast. It would have been a triumph to have reared it. At that

early age the fluff on the head was largely developed into the

form of a crest, but the bill was quite short as with any other

young bird.


I succeeded in bringing to Cairo seven well-grown Hoopoes

and, much as I loved them, could I ever go through such a

business again ? I think never ! They had to be fed constantly,

and each bird had to be taken out of the cage in turn so that the

food could be placed in its mouth, for otherwise it was thrown

about inside the cage, and the birds would have ended in being

half starved.


As I was staying ten days in Cairo, before leaving for

England, I used to allow two of the Hoopoes which were

particularly tame, to fly about upon the spacious balcony which

opened from my sitting-room ; and very pretty it was to see them



