THE HOOPOE 145 
tree in Madras. I further came across a nest in June 
at Gonda, in Northern India. The nest was in the mud 
wall of a stable, just below the roof. The nest is quite 
easy to find. It is only necessary to watch some 
hoopoes in the earlier months of the year, and, if they 
are nesting, you will be able to track them to their lair 
without difficulty. The parent flops lazily along, right 
up to the nest. It may feed the young from outside, or 
may enter the nest and remain there for a few seconds. 
If you see a hoopoe visit any hole ten or twenty 
times in the course of an hour, you may be absolutely 
certain that it has a nest in that hole. Birds which nest 
in holes take no precautions to conceal the fact that 
they are going to the nest, as many birds, which build 
exposed nurseries, do. In the former case there is no 
need for caution, in the latter there is, 
I have often amused myself by sitting quite close to 
a nest in a hole; the parent returns with some tasty 
morsel for the youngsters, and is disgusted to find an 
ogre sitting near the nursery. As a rule the bird will 
fidget about for a little outside the nest, in the hope 
that the intruder will take himself off, and, if this does 
not happen, it will boldly enter the nest. From four to 
seven eggs are usually laid by the hoopoe; these are 
pale blue or greenish white in colour. 
Two species of hoopoe are found in India, but they 
are so similar that it seems unnecessary to divide them. 
One form is called the European hoopoe (Upupa epops) 
and the other the Indian hoopoe (Ugupa indica). They 
are distinguished by the former having some white in 
the crest. But most birds in Northern India display 
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