ornithological conductors lead them through a wild, des- ert tract terminated bij mountains and rocks, in which is situated the royal aviary of Epops. The Septuagint and ViUgate agree with the Arabian interpreters in translating the Hebrew term by iiroip and itpi(pu ; and, as the Syrian name is kikuphah, and the Egyptian ku- kiiphak, both apparently of the same origin as dukiphath, the propriety of substituting hoopoe for lapwing in our version appears sufficiently established. The ^^•ord hoo- poe is evidently onomatopoetic, being derived from the voice of the bird, which resembles the words '' hoop, hoop," softly but rapidly uttered. " It utters at times a sound closely resembling the word hoop, hoop, hoop, but breathed out so softly, but rapidly, as to remind the hearer of the note of the dove" (Yarrell, Brit. Birds, ii, 17G). The (iermans call the bird Ein IIoup, the French, La Iluppe, which is particularly api)ropriate, as it refers both to the crest and note of the bird. In Sweden it is known by the name of Ildr-Fogel, the army-bird, because, from its ominous cry, frequently heard in the wilds of the forest, while the bird itself moves off as any one ap- proaches, the common people have supposed that sea- sons of scarcity and war are impending (Lloyd's Scand. Advent, ii, 321).
The hoopoe is not uncommon in Palestine at this day (Forskiil, Descr. Anim. pref. p. 7 , Eussel, Aleppo, ii, 81 ; \{'6it, Nachr. v. Marokko, p. 297; compare Jerome, ad Zech. V, 9 ; Bechstein, Naturgesch. ii, 547), and was from remote ages a bird of mystery. INIany and strange are the stories which are told of the hoopoe in ancient Ori- ental fable, and some of these stories are by no means to its credit. It seems to have been always regarded, both bj- Arabians and Greeks, with a superstitious reverence —a circumstance which it owes, no doubt, partly to its crest (Aristoph. Birds, 94; compare Ovid, Met. vi, C72), which certainly gives it a most imposing appearance, partly to the length of its beak, and partly, also, to ita habits. " If any one anointed himself with its blood, and then fell asleep, he would see dcsmons sufi ..ating him" — " if its liver were eaten with rue, the eater's wits would be sharpened, and pleasing memories be excited" — are superstitions held respecting this bird. One more fable narrated of the hoopoe is given, because its origin can be traced to a pecidiar habit of the bird. The Arabs say that the hoopoe is a betrayer of secrets ; that it is able, moreover, to point out hidden wells and foun- tains under ground. Now the hoopoe, on settling upon the ground, has a strange and portentous-looking habit of bending the head downwards till the point of the beak touches the ground, raising and depressing its crest at the same time. Hence, with much probability, arose the Arabic fable. These stories, absurd as they are, are here mentioned because it was perhaps in a great measure owing, not only to tiie uncleanly habits of the bird, but also to the superstitious feeling with which the hoopoe was regarded by the Egyptians and heathen generally, that it was forbidden as food to the Israelites, whose affections Jehovah wished to wean from the land of their bondage, to which, as we know, they fondly clung. The summit of the augural rod is said to have been carved in the form of a hoopoe's head ; and one of the kind is still used by Indian gosseins, and even Armenian bishops, attention being no doubt drawn to the bird by its peculiarly arranged bars upon a deli- cate vinous fawn color, and further embellished with a beautiful fan-shaped crest of the same color. The hoo- poe is a bird of the slender-billed tribe, allied to the creepers {Certhiad(e), about as large as a pigeon, but rather more slender. Tlie general hue is a delicate red- dish buff, but the back, wings, and tall are beautifully marked with broad alternate bands of black and white : the feathers of the crest, which can be raised or dropped at pleasure, arc terminateil by a white space tijiped with lilack. In Egyjit tliese birds are numerous (Sonnini, Travels, i, 204)", forming probably two species, the one permanently resident about human habitations, the other migratory, and the same that visits Europe. The lat-
LAPWING
246
LARDNER
Hoopoe {Upupa Epopn).
ter wades in the mud when the Nile has subsided, and seeks lor worms and insects; and the former is known to rear its young so much immersed in the shards and fragments of beetles, etc., as to cause a disagreeable smell about its nest, which is always in holes or in hol- low trees. Though an unclean bird in the Hebrew law, the common migratory hoopoe is eaten in Egypt, and sometimes also in Italy; but the stationary species is considered inedible. See jNIacgillivray's British Birds, iii, 43; Yarrell, i>72V. B. ii, 178, '2d ed.; Lloyd's Scandi- navian Adrentures, ii, S'2l. The chief grounds for all the filthy habits which have been ascribed to this much- maligned bird are to be found in the fiict that it resorts to dunghills, etc., in search of the worms and insects which it finds there. A writer in Ibis, i, 49, says, "We found the hoopoe a very good bird to eat." Tristram says of the hoopoe {Ibis, i, 27) : " The Arabs have a su- perstitious reverence for this bird, which they believe to possess marvellous medicinal qualities, and call it ' the Doctor.' Its head is an indispensable ingredient in aU charms, and in the practice of witchcraft." — Kitto; Smith; Fairbairn. See Bochart, Ilieroz. iii, 107 sq. ; Rosenmiiller, Alterth. IV, ii, 326; Oedmann, Samml. v, 66 sq. ; Sommer, Bibl. A bhandl. i, 254 sq. ; Penni/ Ci/clo- pcediu, s. V. Upupidie; Wood, Bible Animals, p. 392.