E. Hopkins on—Breeding of Hoopoes



253



“ The nesting place was quite a dark corner, behind a box placed behind

two old breeding cages ; behind this box I noticed her going in and out,

and concluded that she was looking for a nesting site, so I placed an ordinary

flat chocolate box, into which I put a little chopped hay; she made no

attempt to form a nest, but laid her eggs in the receptacle just as it was

placed for her. The young now leave the nest box, but go back to it again ;

they have not come down to the ground yet. They are in grand feather,

and almost equal to the old birds in colour ; three of them now have beaks

fully inches long, and they erect their crests well; the latter remind you

of the crest of the Rose-crested Cockatoo, a double formation, V-shaped.


“ I have just noticed that the old pair are now going through the quaint

antics they indulged in before nesting commenced. The cock will take a

mealworm and offer it to the hen, she opens her beak and he places it almost

inside, but withdraws it again ; this he will continue for five or six minutes,

just as if it were to tease her ; for this reason I am expecting them to

nest again.


“ It will probably be of interest if I state that my aviary is rather

small, and the number and mixture of its occupants will doubtless occasion

some surprise. (List of these given, see below.)


“ I have had four clutches of Blue-winged Sugar-birds eggs hatched out,

but ... in each instance they died after the third or fourth day, owing to

being unable to get enough insect food. Having such a large number flying

together in a limited space, it is most difficult to supply sufficient live food.

To-day (28th July) the first egg of their fifth clutch has been laid, and I am

hoping for better luck.”


The list is indeed surprising for it includes about sixty birds ;

British Finches, about a dozen small Foreign Seed-eaters, a Pope, a

pair of White-headed Tits, a Golden Oriole, three Waxwings, a Wood-

warbler, a pair of Sugar-birds, and the two Hoopoes and their five young.

The wonder is that anything could breed in such mixed company,

especially such small birds as the Sugar-birds, which five times got as

far as young which lived for a day or two. It is rather a pity that the

actual dimensions of the aviary are not given, for one knows how

widely different are people's ideas as to the meaning of “ small ” (or,

for that matter, “ large ”) when speaking of aviaries or cages.


We get no more information about the Hoopoes later in the

volume, but in the October inset the Editor includes “ Hoopoe, M.

Armstein ” in the list of those qualified for a medal for breeding a

species “ for the first time in this country or captivity ”, and on p. 189

of the 1912 volume, also includes it in his list of birds bred in captivity.


By the time my Summary of Breeding records appeared (1932),


I had become rather sceptical about this record, and some of my friends

even more so, so that in that Summary I put the Hoopoe among the



