EASTERN ETHIOPIA 
XXIX 
360 
a nest in a hole in a tree or wall, using foul material 
in its construction. It takes no pains to keep the 
nest clean during incubation and the neighbourhood 
of the nest becomes unpleasant and often intolerable 
to man. In the autumn hoopoes when fat are esteemed 
The European Hoopoe [Upupa cpo^s) visits the Nile Valley and 
British East Africa. 
as delicacies, especially by the Christian population of 
Constantinople (Newton), and Arabs impute to this bird, 
especially its head, medicinal virtues. There is a fable 
connected with the hoopoe : Allah granted to Epops. a 
golden crest, but at the bird’s request changed it for one 
of feathers. 
