116 
EUROPEAN HOOPOE. 
ment of the quill-feathers our bird agrees with the 
European. 
The European Hoopoe arrives in small flocks, in 
Sicily, during the spring and autumnal migration, 
where we have repeatedly shot it. The assertion 
that it is then sufficiently abundant to purify the 
air, by devouring putrid substances, is such an ab- 
surd fable, that, but for its having been recently 
repeated in one of our “ popular" compilations*, 
we should hardly have thought it worth refuting ; 
on the contrary, it is a very cleanly bird, feeding 
only upon live worms and insects, which it seeks 
for in the most retired shades. It is, in short, by 
no means common ; and as it does not breed, as we 
believe, in the Mediterranean, wc have never seen 
its nest. 
Total length, about 9£ inches ; bill, from the 
base, If; wings, 5; tail, from the base, 3j. 
Mudie’s British Birds. 
