HOOPOE. 



27 



and which has been compared to the barking of a small dog 

 when heard at a distance. The bird appears to use great 

 exertion in uttering its call-note, for it has its crest always 

 erected, the feathers of its throat extended, and nods sharply 

 and continuously with its head. 



On the arrival of the male bird at the place chosen for 

 breeding, it commences its call, which it keeps up the whole 

 of the day until it meets with a mate, after which it is heard 

 less frequently, and is entirely discontinued about the end of 

 July. 



The Hoopoe is very easily tamed when young, and at- 

 taches itself so much to its master or keeper that it will 

 readily accompany him abroad, without any effort to escape 

 by flying away. The greatest difficulty in preserving them 

 during confinement arises from their beaks becoming too dry 

 at the tip, and splitting in consequence, whereby the birds 

 are starved, from their inability to take their food. The 

 Hoopoe feeds principally on coleopterous insects, which it 

 takes from the ground with its long slender beak. Where- 

 ever any decayed animal or vegetable matter has lain on the 

 surface, there it is busily employed in searching for and de- 

 vouring the small beetles and maggots usually to be found in 

 such places. The beak of the Hoopoe seems to be expressly 

 formed for the purpose of drawing forth beetles and other 

 insects from a depth of one or two inches in the ground, or 

 from beneath heaps of manure in the fields, as the tip is 

 horny, and for some length neither scooped nor tubed, and 

 may consequently be forced into the ground with consider- 

 able violence, without sustaining any injury thereby. The 

 most likely place to find a brood of the Hoopoe is in a hole 

 in a tree, though a hole in an old wall or rock, and some- 

 times even the bare ground, is made use of for the purpose 

 of incubation. The female deposits her four or five eggs on 

 whatever substance she may find in the hole she has selected, 



