202 BRITISH AND EUROPEAN BIRDS. 



The Demoiselle Heron, by dancing well known, 

 With a bending trachea beneath the breast bone, 

 In attitudes elegant seem'd to delight, 

 While displaying his feathers long, pendent and white. 

 The Hoopoe ( 24 ),withtuft, look'd a gallant dragoon;— 

 Seem'd ready as soldier to range in platoon ; 



The Turks call this bird friend and brother; of course, it is much 



respected ; a variety, most probably, of the stork. Mr. Southey 



has described these birds, and the Bittern's Booming, in the 



following lines : 



"The cranes upon the mosque 



Kept their night clatter still ; 



When through the gate the early traveller past. 



And when at evening o'er the swampy plain 



The Bittern's Boom came far, 



Distinct in darkness seen— 



Above the low horizon's lingering light 



Rose the near ruins of Old Babylon." 



Thalaba, vol. i. page 224. 



(**). Order, Pic^e, (Linn.) Hoopoe, the Common, the 



Crested, the Grand Promerops, &c. 



The genus Upupa, (Linn.) Hoopoe, or Hoop, consists of 

 ten or more species scattered over the warmer climates of the 

 globe. They have an arched, long, slender, convex, a little 

 compressed, and somewhat obtuse, bill ; nostrils small, at the 

 base of the bill ; tongue obtuse, entire, triangular, very short ; 

 feet formed for walking. The following are the chief: 



The Epops, or Common-Hoopoe, is often seen in this coun- 

 try ; it is a beautiful bird, in length twelve inches, and distin- 

 guished by its enormous tuft of feathers, which rises perpendi- 

 cularly from the crown of the head, and which it can erect 

 or depress at pleasure. The crest feathers are brown, tipt with 

 black ; the back, scapulars, and wings, are crossed with broad 

 bars of white and black ; breast and belly white. Found all over 



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