but considered by Dr Murie (Ibis, 1873, p. 208) to deserve separate rank as Epopomorphce. This species lias an exceed ingly 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 south wards in autumn to winter in equatorial Africa and India, though it would seem to be 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 re moved from its usual haunts), and also by the fact that when pursued by a Falcon it will rapidly mount 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- buff the 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-grey, and the scapulars ani flight-feather? are black, broadly barred with white tinged in the former 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 run ning 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 Upupidce and Alaudidce in the same " cohors " Ilolaspidew. Comparative anatomy, however, 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 dis played by the form of the bill arid the coloration in certain Larks (of the genus Certhilauda, for instance), must be ascribed to analogy merely, though at present no explana tion of the why and the wherefore can be offered.
Pleasing as is the appearance of the Hoopoe as it fearlessly parades its showy plumage, 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, 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 foeces are not removed by their parents,[1] 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.[2]
Not a year passes but the Hoopoe makes its appearance in some part or other of the British Islands, most often in spring, 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, which there is reason to think would not in a temperate climate become so offensive a nuisance as it is in more southern latitudes. Eight or nine so-called species of the genus have been described, but of them the existence of five only has been recognized by the writers who have most lately investigated them Messrs Sharps and Dresser (Birds of Europe, pt. vii.). Besides the Upupa, epoj/s above treated, these are U. indicn, resident in India and Ceylon ; U. lonyirostris, which seems to be the form of the Indo-Chinese countries ; U. marginata, peculiar to Madagascar; and U. africana i,r U. minor of some writers, which inhabits South Africa to the Zambesi on the east and Benguela on the west coast. In habits and appearance they all resemble the best-known and most widely-spread species, and their particular differences cannot, for want of space, be here pointed out.[3]
HOORN, a town of Holland, at the head of an arron- dissement in the province of North Holland, 20 miles N. N.E. of Amsterdam and 10 miles S.W T . of Enkhuizen, with which it is connected by the road called De Streek, or The Stroke. The Hoornerhop, a bay of the Zuyder Zee, forms a good outer harbour, and the inner harbour is shut in by a sluice which can be opened only when the water within and without has nearly the same level. Of the massive walls by which Hoorn was formerly surrounded few indications are left except in the shape of promenades and gardens ; but two of the old gateways, the East Gate and the Cow Gate. and a few towers still remain. The West Gate is gone, with its monument to the filial piety of Lambert Meliszoon, a young man who by heroic exertions managed to bring his aged mother to refuge within the town when the country around was overrun by the Spaniards in 1579. Most of the ordinary houses are old-fashioned, and interesting from the sculptures or carvings with which they are decorated ; but the public buildings have little to boast of in the way of architectural excellence or peculiarity. It is enough to mention the town-house (formerly the state college), the weigh -house, the old admiralty-house or princes court, the house of correction (formerly the admiralty magazine), the old mint, occupied as barracks, the new infirmary, the orphanage, and the old women s hospital. Of the eight churches the principal is the Groote Kerk, occupying the site of the famous 14th century edifice of the same name, which perished by fire in 1838. A communal high school, a Latin school, a medical and chemical society, and a branch of the society Tot nut van t Algemeen are the main
- ↑ This indeed is denied by Naumann, but by him alone ; and the statement in the text is confirmed by many eye-witnesses.
- ↑ Under the name of Dukipnth, in the authorized version of the Bible translated "Lapwing" (Lev. xi. 19, Dent. xiv. 18), the Hoopoe was accounted unclean by the "Jewish law." Arabs have a great reverence for the bird, imparting to it marvellous medicinal and other qualities, and making use of its head in all their charms (cf. Tristram, Nat. Hist, of the Bible, pp. 208, 209).
- ↑ The genera Rhinopomastus and Trrisor are generally placed in the Family Upupidce, but Dr Murie (I.e.], after an exhaustive examination of their osteology, regards them as forming a group of equal value.
