it would seem, without any bedding, but often the old nest
of a Starling or other bird is used, or possibly fresh twigs,
grass and the like are added. The Hoopoe, however, is not
content with this : the furnishing of its nursery is nearly
always completed by introducing some of the foulest material
that can be conceived; and the hen, it would appear, scarcely
ever leaves the nest for the sixteen days of her incubation,
the cock assiduously feeding her at the hole’s mouth. Things
become worse when the young are hatched, for their faeces
are discharged all around, producing, in warm climates especially,
an indescribable stench.* The eggs, from four to
seven in number, are of elongate form, with a dull surface
minutely pitted, the sides of the hollows shewing white, but
otherwise uniform in colour. When first laid, says Lord
Lilford, they are of a fine pale greenish-blue; but, as ordinarily
seen, some are of a lavender-grey, others pale olive, while
again others have a distinctly reddish tinge. They measure
from 1*08 to "96 by from ‘74 to *68 in.
The Hoopoe soon becomes tame in captivity, and even, it
is said, strongly attached to its keeper, while its lively actions
render it an amusing tenant of the aviary. But without
great care it does not long endure prison-life, and one of its
chief requirements seems to be plenty of sand in which it can
roll itself. Blyth states (Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 2, ii. p. 597)
that in 1838 a pair “ built and incubated ” in the menagerie
at Knowsley. Notwithstanding its nauseous mode of feeding,
this bird, which towards autumn becomes very fat, is
deemed a delicacy in many parts of the south of Europe, and
especially by the Greeks of Constantinople. To Jews and
bant,” in the chest of a rotting corpse that had been loosely covered with stones.
In China, says Swinhoe (Ibis, 1860, p. 49), Hoopoes often breed in the holes of
exposed coffins, whence the people call them by a name meaning “ Coffin-bird.
* Some of this is denied by Nanmann, but, it would seem, by him alone, and
the assertions in the text are corroborated by many witnesses. In Central
Germany, where his observations were chiefly made, it is indeed probable that
matters are not so bad as in more southern countries, and it is quite likely that
if a pair of Hoopoes were again suffered to breed with us they would not be
found to be any nuisance to their neighbours. Certainly in the few instances
recorded, no disgust appears to have been felt, and no complaint made. However,
“ Sale comme une Huppe” is a French proverb.
Mahometans it is by law forbidden as unclean. Of the part
played by the Hoopoe in Egyptian and classical mythology,
and in the traditions and pharmacopoeia of the Arabs, there is
not here space to tell.
This bird in summer has several times wandered to the
most northern parts of Norway, and in 1868 one was taken
in Spitsbergen, but in Scandinavia it has been only known to
breed in Denmark—though not recently, in the extreme south
of Sweden and in Gottland and (Eland. It is but rarely
observed in Finland, and in Russia does not seem, according
to Dr. Sabanejev, to go northward of the Jaroslav Government,
though abundant in the south, and on the Asiatic border
hardly attains lat. 60° N. Further eastward its northern
limit has not. been laid down, but it is very common in
Western Siberia, is found in Dauuria, even on the high
plains, and thence through Amoorland to the Pacific. It is
included among the birds of Japan, and in China occurs from
Pekin to Canton, being resident in parts at least of that
empire. To the South its range is as yet ill-defined, for
Messrs. Sharpe and Dresser incline to believe that the Hoopoe
of the Indo-Chinese countries may be specifically separated
under the name of Upupa longirostris; but the true U. epops
is certainly found throughout India, though perhaps only as
a winter-visitant—what is believed to be a third species,
U. indica, being the perennial form in that country.* Thence
our Hoopoe prevails throughout South-western Asia to Egypt
and Nubia, where it is resident. In Abyssinia as also in
Senegal it seems to occur only in winter, but its southern
limits in Africa require further investigation.! North of the
Sahara U. epops is very abundant; it is common in the
Canaries, and occurs in Madeira and the Azores. Throughout
the Mediterranean islands it is a well-known bird-of-
* Another reputed species, U. nigripennis, inhabits Southern India and
Ceylon, hut Messrs. Sharpe and Dresser unite it to U. indica.
f From Zambesia on the east to Benguela on the west U. epops is replaced by
what the authors last named term a distinct and excellent species, U. africana
{U. minor and V. decorata of some writers), which extends to the Cape of Good.
Hope. A very closely-allied form, U. marginata, seems to he peculiar to
Madagascar.