26o OUR SUMMER MIGRANTS. 



Scotland ; and Mr. Thompson remarks^ that in 

 Ireland it has appeared occasionally in all 

 quarters of the island. 



As autumn approaches, these birds, or such of 

 them as have contrived to escape destruction, 

 begin to move southwards for the winter, and 

 passing gradually down to the Mediterranean, 

 are observed for some days about the groves 

 and olive gardens near the sea before they 

 finally cross over. In this way they return to 

 their winter haunts about the end of August or 

 beginning of September. Throughout Southern 

 and South-eastern Europe, as well as in Siberia 

 and North-eastern Africa, the Hoopoe breeds 

 commonly ; but in the northern and western 

 parts of the last-named continent it is chiefly 

 a winter visitant. The Siberian birds, probably, 

 and not the European ones, migrate to India 

 and China for the cold season, and some remain 

 to breed in both these countries. Those which 

 have passed the summer in Europe, as already 

 shown, spend their winter in Africa. 



1 " Nat. Hist. Ireland" (Birds), vol. i. p. 353. 



