382 
HOOPOE. 
in marshy places, planted with poplars and willows 
for use of the vineyards. These trees being topped 
down or pollared, gradually decay in the heart, 
and are attacked by numerous tribes of insects, 
particularly the formica fuliginosa, and there the 
Hoopoes were frequently observed examining 
the rotten wood, and feeding on the insects with 
which it abounds.* The principal, if not the 
only, food, seems to be insects, which it procures 
chiefly on the ground. A specimen dissected by 
Mr Selby, had the stomach filled entirely with 
the larva of tipuloe and phalceiuB, no remains of 
perfect insects being visible. It is said to build 
in hollow trees, or in crevices of walls, forming 
the nest of dry grass or leaves, and lining it with 
soft materials. 
Head adorned with an ample crest of broad 
feathers, capable of being raised and depressed 
at pleasure ; these feathers are of an orange brown, 
of various intensity in different specimens, shad- 
ing nearly into white at the extremity, and 
finished by an oval spot of black. The head, 
neck, back, and breast, are reddish gray, tinted 
with vinous purple, also varying in intensity, 
and on the belly and vent shading into pure 
white, dashed along the centre of the feathers on 
the latter parts with umber brown. The rump 
is white, the upper tail coverts black. The wings 
are black, and when closed and meeting on the 
back, exhibit five white bands across the whole, 
Loudon’s Mag. of Nat. Hist. vii. p. 155. 
