HOOPOE (Fr. Huppe, Lat. Upupa, Gr. Eao>!iall names bestowed apparently from its cry)

This article appears in Volume V13, Page 676 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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HOOPOE (Fr. Huppe, Lat. Upupa, Gr. Eao>!iall names bestowed apparently from its cry) , a bird long celebrated in literature, and conspicuous by its variegated plumage and its large erectile crest,' the Upupa epops of naturalists, which is the type of the very peculiar family Upupidae, placed by Huxley in his group Coccygomorphae, but considered by Dr Murie (

Ibis

IBIS

, 1873, p. 208) to deserve separate rank as Epopomorphae. This species has an exceedingly wide range in the Old World, being a regular summer-visitant to the whole of Europe, in some parts of which it is abundant, as well as to Siberia, mostly retiring
Hoopoe.
southwards in autumn to winter in equatorial Africa and India, though it would seem to be

resident

RESIDENT

throughout the year in north-eastern Africa and in China. Its power of wing ordinarily seems to be feeble; but it is capable of very extended flight, as is testified by its wandering habits (for it occasionally makes its appearance in places very far removed from its usual haunts), and also by the fact that when pursued by a falcon it will rapidly

mount

MOUNT, WILLIAM SIDNEY (1807-1868)

to an extreme height and frequently effect its escape from the enemy. About the size of a thrush, with a long, pointed and slightly arched bill, its head and neck are of a golden-buffthe former adorned by the crest already mentioned, which begins to rise from the forehead and consists of broad feathers, gradually increasing in length, tipped with black and having a subterminal bar of yellowish-white. The upper part of the back is of a vinous-
" Hence the secondary meaning of the French word huppea crest or tuft (cf. Littre, Dict. francais, i. 2067.
HOORN
grey, and the scapulars and flight-feathers are black, broadly barred with white tinged in the farmer with buff. The tail is black with a white chevron, marking off about the distal third part of its length. The legs and feet are as well adapted for running or walking as for perching, and the scutellations are continued round the whole of the tarsi. Chiefly on account of this character, which is also possessed by the larks, Sundevall (Tentamen, pp. 53-55) united the Upupidae and Alaudidae in the same " cohors " Holaspideae. Comparative anatomy, how-ever, forbids its being taken to signify any real affinity between these groups, and the resemblance on this point, which is by no means so striking as that displayed by the form of the bill and the coloration in certain larks (of the genus Cerllzilauda, for instance), must be ascribed to analogy merely.
Pleasing as is the appearance of the hoopoe as it fearlessly parades its showy plumage, some of its habits are much the reverse. All observers agree in stating that it delights to find its food among filth of the most abominable description, and this especially in its winter-quarters. But where it breeds, its nest, usually in the hole of a tree or of a

wall

WALL (O. Eng. weal, weall, Mid. Eng. wal, wane, adapted from Lat. vallum, rampart; the
original
- ORIGINAL
O. Eng. word for a wall was wag or tenth)
WALL, RICHARD (1694-1778)

, is not only partly composed of the foulest material, but its condition becomes worse as incubation proceeds, for the hen scarcely ever leaves her eggs, being assiduously fed by the cock as she sits; and when the

young

are hatched, their faeces are not removed by their parents,' as is the case with most birds, but are discharged in the immediate neighbourhood of the nest, the unsanitary condition of which can readily be imagined. Worms, grubs, and insects generally form the hoopoes' food, and upon it they get so fat in autumn that they are esteemed a delicate morsel in some of the countries of southern Europe, and especially by the Christian population of Constantinople.'
Not a year passes but the hoopoe makes its appearance in some part or other of the British Islands, most often in

spring

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

, and if unmolested would doubtless stop to breed in them, and a few instances are known in which it has done so. But its remarkable plumage always attracts attention, and it is generally shot down so soon as it is seen, and before it has time to begin a nest. Eight or nine so-called species of the genus have been described, but of them the existence of five only has been recognized by Sharpe and Dresser (Birds of Europe, pt. vii.). Besides the Upupa epops above treated, these are U. indica,

resident

RESIDENT

in India and Ceylon; U. longirostris, which seems to be the form of the Indo-Chinese countries; U. marginata, peculiar to Madagascar; and U. africana or U.

minor

of some writers, which inhabits South Africa to the Zambesi on the

east

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

and Benguela on the west coast. In habits and appearance they all resemble the best-known and most widely-spread species.4 (A. N.)

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