|
|
|
There was good reason
for supposing that the evil odour of the Hoopoe's nest was caused by the food, as the Hoopoe is in the habit of raking about in very unsavoury places
in search of insects. But it does not therefore follow that the insects
which it finds are possessed of an evil smell. On the contrary, some of
the worst-smelling insects - notably the lace-wing fly and many of the
flower-haunting hemiptera - are invariably found upon the leaves of trees
and the petals of flowers; while others which, like many of the scarab
beetles, haunt the most repulsive substances, but are in themselves bright,
and clean, and sweet.
|
|
|
Birdwatchers agree
in stating that it delights to find its food among filth of the most abominable
description, and this especially in its winter-quarters.
The Hoopoe eats mainly
insects, although worms and grubs also form the Hoopoes' food. Beetles
of various kinds seem to be their favourite food, and when the beetles
are reasonably large - say, for example, as large as the common cock-chafer
and dor-beetle - the bird beats them into a soft mass before it attempts
to eat them. Smaller beetles are swallowed without any ceremony. The various
boring insects which make their home in decaying wood are favourite articles
of diet with the Hoopoe, which digs them out of the soft wood with its
long curved beak. Hoopoes can get so fat in autumn that they were deemed to be
a delicacy in some of countries of Southern Europe in the 19th Century.
Some Arabian people have a great reverence for the bird, attributing to it
marvellous medicinal and other qualities, and using its head in
charms.
|
|
|
