28 Wild ^ Tame Hoopoes 



on the upper deck of the dahabeah under the awning, 

 there came to my ears the sound of much splashing 

 and yelling from the neighbouring island. Through 

 the shallow water that divided it from our sandbank, 

 three of my copper-skinned Arab boys were racing, 

 one of them holding his white robe above his knees 

 out of the water's reach in one hand, whilst in the 

 other were three struggling ungainly-looking bird 

 forms, which even at some little distance I saw were 

 at any rate not sparrows. 



"Shoof! shoof! hidadid!" ("Look! look! hoo- 

 poes ! ") cried all the boys simultaneously, and I thought 

 the poor little birds would have been then and there 

 torn to pieces, for each boy tried his best to be the 

 one to hand them over to me, with the usual Arab- 

 like clamour, impetuosity, and excitement. Yes ! sure 

 enough, they were unmistakably hoopoes, easily 

 recognisable even at the age of perhaps a week old. 

 Their crests were already well developed, and the 

 quills that covered their odoriferous bodies showed 

 the black and white bars of the wings and the russet- 

 brown of the general plumage. 



After having duly rewarded the young Arabs, I 

 placed my hoopoes in a covered basket lined with hay, 

 where at first they huddled into the farthest corner, 

 nearly turning head over heels in their endeavours to 

 escape from my sight, their hind-quarters up in the 

 air, and their heads, with the double row of crest 

 quills widely separated, nearly doubled beneath them. 



And their smell ! Well, smell isn't the word 1 

 At that age hoopoes' bills are of course not nearly so 



