256 OUR SUMMER MIGRANTS 



Lord Lilford states that although the Hoopoe 

 as a rule prefers a hole in an old ash or willow 

 tree for nesting in, he has seen a nest on the 

 ground under a large stone, others in holes on 

 the sunny side of mud or brick walls, one in a 

 fissure of limestone rock, and another in a small 

 cavern. 



Dr. Carl Bolle has observed that in the 

 Canaries, where trees are scarce, the Hoopoe 

 breeds in holes of the stone walls and clefts of 

 the rocks. 



During his residence in China, where this 

 bird is common, Mr. Swinhoe was surprised to 

 find that it often breeds in the holes of exposed 

 Chinese cofifins, whence the natives have a great 

 aversion to them, branding them as " Coffin- 

 birds ; " and the Russian naturalist Pallas once 

 found a nest of the Hoopoe, containing seven 

 young ones nearly ready to fly, in the decom- 

 posed abdominal cavity of a dead body ! 



The note of the Hoopoe .is very remarkable, 

 and not to be mistaken for that of any other bird 

 with which I am acquainted. It sounds like 



