. A dictionary of birds . extreme height andfrequently effect its escape from the enemy. About the size of aThrush, with a long, pointed, and slightly arched bill, its head and ^ Hence the secondary meaning of the French word hiippe—a. crest or tuft{cf. Littre, Did. Francaisc, i. 2067). HOOPOE 431 neck are of a golden-bufF—the former adorned by the crest already-mentioned, which begins to rise from the forehead and consists ofbroad feathers, gradually increasing in length, tipped with black,and having a subterminal bar of yellowish-white. The upper partof the back is of a vinous-grey, and the
. A dictionary of birds . extreme height andfrequently effect its escape from the enemy. About the size of aThrush, with a long, pointed, and slightly arched bill, its head and ^ Hence the secondary meaning of the French word hiippe—a. crest or tuft{cf. Littre, Did. Francaisc, i. 2067). HOOPOE 431 neck are of a golden-bufF—the former adorned by the crest already-mentioned, which begins to rise from the forehead and consists ofbroad feathers, gradually increasing in length, tipped with black,and having a subterminal bar of yellowish-white. The upper partof the back is of a vinous-grey, and the scapulars and flight-feathersare black, broadly barred with white, tinged in the former withbuff. The tail is black with a white chevron, marking off aboutthe distal third part of its length. The legs and feet are as welladapted for running or walking as for perching, and the scutella-tions are continued round the whole of the tarsi. Chiefly on accountof this character, which is also possessed by the Larks, Sundevall. {Tentamen, pp. 53-55) united the Ujyupidx and Alauclidx in thesame cohors, Rolaspidex. Comparative anatomy, however, for-bids its being taken to signify any real affinity between thesegroups, and the resemblance on this point, which is by no meansso striking as that displayed by the form of the bill and the colora-tion in certain Larks (of the genus CerthiJauda, for instance), mustbe ascribed to analogy merely, though at present no explanation ofthe why and the wherefore can be offered. Pleasing as is the appearance of the Hoopoe as it fearlesslyparades its showy plumage, its habits are much the reverse. Allobservers agree in stating that it delights to find its food amongfilth of the most abominable description, and this especially in itswinter-quarters. But where it breeds, its nest, usually in the hole 432 HORNBILL of a tree or of a wall, is not only partly composed of the foulestmaterial, but its condition becomes worse as incubation proceeds,for the hen s
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1896
