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sunning themselves on the balustrade, lying down and spreading

out their wings, crests, and tails to catch the full heat, until they

looked, with their black and white bands and bars, like some

puzzle or kaleidoscope.


The cage in which they lived was an Egyptian one, made

of cane, with a sliding door. With constant opening and shutting,

this door slid back extremely easily, so that perhaps my horror

may be imagined when, on returning from the Bazaars one

morning, I found the door pushed back, and all seven Hoopoes

flitting about in the trees which grew opposite the hotel. Kites

and wicked Grey Crows (the wretches !) were gathering round,

eyeing my poor innocent Hoopoes, some of which, highly

delighted at finding themselves at liberty, were preening their

feathers and erecting their crests, and looking generally perky.


That I should ever recover them all again, I doubted ;

especially as at that moment the finest of the lot took flight

upwards, apparently out of sheer gaiety of spirits, only to be

immediately attacked from above by a Kite, which swooped down

upon it in a most abominably business-like manner—but the

Hoopoe gave a twist and a turn and dodged that evil-minded

Kite, when to my consternation, and still more I should imagine

to the Hoopoe’s, a Grey Crow dashed up from below. This was

a mean manoeuvre, for he thought, “ that bird shall be made

mince-meat between me and the Kite, we’ll sandwich him

between us.” That Hoopoe deserved to live, for with another

twist he fled into an acacia tree close by, and put up his crest at

his enemies, in much the same manner as a Eondon street arab

would put up his hand to his nose on escaping from the claws of

two Policemen. It was warm work for a minute or two.


As to those Grey Crows, they are real villains, for the next

day two of them did their utmost to work their revenge, actually

daring to hop with a great sidelong awkward hop on to the

balcony, where, whilst one worried those poor Hoopoes on one

side of the cage, the other seized a wing and a tail that for a

moment had showed itself between the bars, and with a savage

tug tweaked out a large beak-full from both. This attack I

witnessed from my bed-room window, and those Crows, although

they saw me, knew perfectly well that they would have time to

carry out their wicked designs, before I could dash on to the

balcony. It was fortunate for them that I couldn’t get at them !


By the time that the Hoopoes were thoroughly hungry,

one after the other flitted across the street and returned to safe

quarters.



