102 HOOPOE. 



long flights, as they are frequently known to rest on ships in the 

 passage. In August they return the same way, in six, seven, or 

 eight in a flock, supposed to consist of families.* In Egypt, said 

 to be more common than elsewhere, and to assemble in small troops; 

 very common at Cairo, building in the streets, on the terraces of the 

 houses. Sonnini f observes, that they are more plentiful at the 

 beginning of the winter ; and that there is scarcely a sandy spot, 

 however small, provided it be near cultivated ground, where 

 Hoopoes are not seen, scratching with their feet, and thrusting their 

 long bills into the ground. 



I have observed this bird among paintings, both from China and 

 India. The name given to it, in a drawing from the Province of 

 Oude, was Oudud. It is also found both in Java and Ceylon. 



2— AFRICAN HOOPOE. 



La Huppe d'Afrique, Ois. Dor. i. (Promerops) p. 11. pi. 2. 

 Upupa or Hoopoe, Kolb. Cap. ii. 157. 

 Smaller Hoopoe, Shaw's Zool. viii. 139. 



THIS, at first sight, might be taken for our Common Species, and 

 Kolben asserts, that those met with at the Cape differ in no respect 

 from that generally known ; however this may be, M. Audibert 

 speaks of it as distinct, being in length nine inches only; the rufous 

 colour is more conspicuous ; the crest not so high, and the feathers 

 of it have no white, as in the European bird ; likewise the colour of 

 the wings is not disposed the same, and the white arch on the tail 

 placed nearer the base. 



* Gen. Davies. Rev. Mr. White. f Trav. i. 30C. They will live in a 



moist garden, in the manner of the Peewit, feeding on worms alone, and have been known 

 to subsist for a long time on board a ship, by means of worms being put into a box of 

 mould, and the bird bored after them in the same manner as it would on land. 



