[Contents]CHAPTER XXIVCLIMBERS—THE HOOPOE“I have been telling you about woodpeckers and the nuthatch, insect-eaters with chisel-shaped beaks for cutting into trees and getting out the worms hidden in the wood. Then I spoke of the wryneck, which does not use its beak for hacking old tree trunks, but can, like the woodpecker, stick out its tongue on the ants’ path and catch the insects with the glue of its saliva. Now we come to some more insect-eaters, but their work is less laborious than that of the woodpecker. They do not hack and hew tree trunks, but merely seek their prey in the cracks and crannies that serve as its refuge. For this kind of hunting they have a long and slender beak that curves slightly downward.“As their name implies, climbers show great agility in climbing. Their beak is very narrow, the better to penetrate the cracks in the bark of trees, and it is bent like an arch and has a fine point. Their feet have three talons pointing forward and one, much stronger, pointing backward. We have in France two climbers, one of which is furnished with a tail composed of a few long, stiff feathers that serve as a support to the bird in climbing, as[185]the woodpecker’s tail serves that bird, while the other is not thus equipped.“The so-called common climber is a tiny bird with whitish plumage spotted with brown above and tinged with red on the rump and tail. Its life is a most laborious one. It frequents woods, orchards, and the trees of our public promenades, where you may see it always busily engaged in examining every square inch of the surface of tree trunks in order to thrust its slender beak into the cracks of the bark and catch any lurking gnats, bugs, caterpillars, or cocoons. It runs down the trunk as fast as it runs up, which woodpeckers cannot do, their progress always being upward, either in a straight line or spirally. It ascends in little leaps and bounds, and helps itself along by propping its tail against the tree. Arrived at the top of the trunk, it descends quickly and begins the same operations on the next tree. At every step it cheers itself up with its sharp, flute-like cry. At nightfall it retires into some hole in a tree trunk. There, too, it makes its nest, which is formed of fine grasses and bits of moss held together by threads from spiders’ webs. Its eggs, from five to seven in number, are pure white with red spots.“The wall-climber, or scaler, makes its way up the perpendicular faces of rocks, ramparts, and old walls, prying out all the various insects and their eggs that may be lurking in the fissures. With its large claws it clings to these vertical surfaces and does not use its tail as a support. This bird, which[186]is of about the size of a lark, has unusually beautiful plumage of a light ash color, with touches of bright red, black, and pure white on the wings. The throat is black, and so is the tail, the latter being edged with white at the tip. The richness of its coloring and the habit it has of remaining stationary in its flight before the rock or other surface it is exploring, just as butterflies hold themselves motionless on their wings while they suck the honey of flowers with their trumpet, have given it the expressive name of butterfly of the rocks. It inhabits the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Jura Mountains. In winter it visits old buildings in our towns.HoopoeHoopoe“The hoopoe is especially remarkable for its double row of long red feathers edged with black and white, which, at the bird’s pleasure, are made to lie down toward the back or stand upright on the head and spread out as a handsome crest. The rest of the plumage is wine-colored, except the tail and wings, which are black. The wings are also ornamented with white stripes running across them.“In size this bird is about as large as a turtle-dove. It lives alone and prefers to remain on the[187]ground usually, rarely perching unless on the lower branches of trees. Its favorite haunts are moist fields, which it walks over at a sedate pace, every now and then erecting its beautiful crest either from satisfaction at having found a savory mouthful or because of being startled by something, for it is a very timid bird. With its long beak it digs in the ground for grubs, beetles, and crickets; or it gathers ants on its viscous tongue. When it has had enough it withdraws to some low branch and there digests its food at leisure. At the mating season it says,poo, poo, whence without doubt comes its familiar nickname of poo-poo.“Elegant though it is in appearance, the hoopoe is not at all particular about the condition of its nest, which it makes in the interior of a worm-eaten tree trunk. It lines the hole with a mortar composed of clay and cows’ dung, whereon it places a little bed of dry leaves and moss. This nest, so deep and so hard to keep clean, ought to be cleared out daily, but the parent bird does nothing about it, leaving the filth to accumulate until it forms a rampart all around the nest. This barricade may serve as an excellent defense against the birdnest-hunter, who would naturally hesitate to thrust his hand into the foul mess; and so I will not censure the bird too severely for its poor housekeeping.“The hoopoe is with us only in summer. Toward the first of September it crosses the Mediterranean to pass the winter under the warmer skies of Africa.”[188]
[Contents]CHAPTER XXIVCLIMBERS—THE HOOPOE“I have been telling you about woodpeckers and the nuthatch, insect-eaters with chisel-shaped beaks for cutting into trees and getting out the worms hidden in the wood. Then I spoke of the wryneck, which does not use its beak for hacking old tree trunks, but can, like the woodpecker, stick out its tongue on the ants’ path and catch the insects with the glue of its saliva. Now we come to some more insect-eaters, but their work is less laborious than that of the woodpecker. They do not hack and hew tree trunks, but merely seek their prey in the cracks and crannies that serve as its refuge. For this kind of hunting they have a long and slender beak that curves slightly downward.“As their name implies, climbers show great agility in climbing. Their beak is very narrow, the better to penetrate the cracks in the bark of trees, and it is bent like an arch and has a fine point. Their feet have three talons pointing forward and one, much stronger, pointing backward. We have in France two climbers, one of which is furnished with a tail composed of a few long, stiff feathers that serve as a support to the bird in climbing, as[185]the woodpecker’s tail serves that bird, while the other is not thus equipped.“The so-called common climber is a tiny bird with whitish plumage spotted with brown above and tinged with red on the rump and tail. Its life is a most laborious one. It frequents woods, orchards, and the trees of our public promenades, where you may see it always busily engaged in examining every square inch of the surface of tree trunks in order to thrust its slender beak into the cracks of the bark and catch any lurking gnats, bugs, caterpillars, or cocoons. It runs down the trunk as fast as it runs up, which woodpeckers cannot do, their progress always being upward, either in a straight line or spirally. It ascends in little leaps and bounds, and helps itself along by propping its tail against the tree. Arrived at the top of the trunk, it descends quickly and begins the same operations on the next tree. At every step it cheers itself up with its sharp, flute-like cry. At nightfall it retires into some hole in a tree trunk. There, too, it makes its nest, which is formed of fine grasses and bits of moss held together by threads from spiders’ webs. Its eggs, from five to seven in number, are pure white with red spots.“The wall-climber, or scaler, makes its way up the perpendicular faces of rocks, ramparts, and old walls, prying out all the various insects and their eggs that may be lurking in the fissures. With its large claws it clings to these vertical surfaces and does not use its tail as a support. This bird, which[186]is of about the size of a lark, has unusually beautiful plumage of a light ash color, with touches of bright red, black, and pure white on the wings. The throat is black, and so is the tail, the latter being edged with white at the tip. The richness of its coloring and the habit it has of remaining stationary in its flight before the rock or other surface it is exploring, just as butterflies hold themselves motionless on their wings while they suck the honey of flowers with their trumpet, have given it the expressive name of butterfly of the rocks. It inhabits the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Jura Mountains. In winter it visits old buildings in our towns.HoopoeHoopoe“The hoopoe is especially remarkable for its double row of long red feathers edged with black and white, which, at the bird’s pleasure, are made to lie down toward the back or stand upright on the head and spread out as a handsome crest. The rest of the plumage is wine-colored, except the tail and wings, which are black. The wings are also ornamented with white stripes running across them.“In size this bird is about as large as a turtle-dove. It lives alone and prefers to remain on the[187]ground usually, rarely perching unless on the lower branches of trees. Its favorite haunts are moist fields, which it walks over at a sedate pace, every now and then erecting its beautiful crest either from satisfaction at having found a savory mouthful or because of being startled by something, for it is a very timid bird. With its long beak it digs in the ground for grubs, beetles, and crickets; or it gathers ants on its viscous tongue. When it has had enough it withdraws to some low branch and there digests its food at leisure. At the mating season it says,poo, poo, whence without doubt comes its familiar nickname of poo-poo.“Elegant though it is in appearance, the hoopoe is not at all particular about the condition of its nest, which it makes in the interior of a worm-eaten tree trunk. It lines the hole with a mortar composed of clay and cows’ dung, whereon it places a little bed of dry leaves and moss. This nest, so deep and so hard to keep clean, ought to be cleared out daily, but the parent bird does nothing about it, leaving the filth to accumulate until it forms a rampart all around the nest. This barricade may serve as an excellent defense against the birdnest-hunter, who would naturally hesitate to thrust his hand into the foul mess; and so I will not censure the bird too severely for its poor housekeeping.“The hoopoe is with us only in summer. Toward the first of September it crosses the Mediterranean to pass the winter under the warmer skies of Africa.”[188]
CHAPTER XXIVCLIMBERS—THE HOOPOE
“I have been telling you about woodpeckers and the nuthatch, insect-eaters with chisel-shaped beaks for cutting into trees and getting out the worms hidden in the wood. Then I spoke of the wryneck, which does not use its beak for hacking old tree trunks, but can, like the woodpecker, stick out its tongue on the ants’ path and catch the insects with the glue of its saliva. Now we come to some more insect-eaters, but their work is less laborious than that of the woodpecker. They do not hack and hew tree trunks, but merely seek their prey in the cracks and crannies that serve as its refuge. For this kind of hunting they have a long and slender beak that curves slightly downward.“As their name implies, climbers show great agility in climbing. Their beak is very narrow, the better to penetrate the cracks in the bark of trees, and it is bent like an arch and has a fine point. Their feet have three talons pointing forward and one, much stronger, pointing backward. We have in France two climbers, one of which is furnished with a tail composed of a few long, stiff feathers that serve as a support to the bird in climbing, as[185]the woodpecker’s tail serves that bird, while the other is not thus equipped.“The so-called common climber is a tiny bird with whitish plumage spotted with brown above and tinged with red on the rump and tail. Its life is a most laborious one. It frequents woods, orchards, and the trees of our public promenades, where you may see it always busily engaged in examining every square inch of the surface of tree trunks in order to thrust its slender beak into the cracks of the bark and catch any lurking gnats, bugs, caterpillars, or cocoons. It runs down the trunk as fast as it runs up, which woodpeckers cannot do, their progress always being upward, either in a straight line or spirally. It ascends in little leaps and bounds, and helps itself along by propping its tail against the tree. Arrived at the top of the trunk, it descends quickly and begins the same operations on the next tree. At every step it cheers itself up with its sharp, flute-like cry. At nightfall it retires into some hole in a tree trunk. There, too, it makes its nest, which is formed of fine grasses and bits of moss held together by threads from spiders’ webs. Its eggs, from five to seven in number, are pure white with red spots.“The wall-climber, or scaler, makes its way up the perpendicular faces of rocks, ramparts, and old walls, prying out all the various insects and their eggs that may be lurking in the fissures. With its large claws it clings to these vertical surfaces and does not use its tail as a support. This bird, which[186]is of about the size of a lark, has unusually beautiful plumage of a light ash color, with touches of bright red, black, and pure white on the wings. The throat is black, and so is the tail, the latter being edged with white at the tip. The richness of its coloring and the habit it has of remaining stationary in its flight before the rock or other surface it is exploring, just as butterflies hold themselves motionless on their wings while they suck the honey of flowers with their trumpet, have given it the expressive name of butterfly of the rocks. It inhabits the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Jura Mountains. In winter it visits old buildings in our towns.HoopoeHoopoe“The hoopoe is especially remarkable for its double row of long red feathers edged with black and white, which, at the bird’s pleasure, are made to lie down toward the back or stand upright on the head and spread out as a handsome crest. The rest of the plumage is wine-colored, except the tail and wings, which are black. The wings are also ornamented with white stripes running across them.“In size this bird is about as large as a turtle-dove. It lives alone and prefers to remain on the[187]ground usually, rarely perching unless on the lower branches of trees. Its favorite haunts are moist fields, which it walks over at a sedate pace, every now and then erecting its beautiful crest either from satisfaction at having found a savory mouthful or because of being startled by something, for it is a very timid bird. With its long beak it digs in the ground for grubs, beetles, and crickets; or it gathers ants on its viscous tongue. When it has had enough it withdraws to some low branch and there digests its food at leisure. At the mating season it says,poo, poo, whence without doubt comes its familiar nickname of poo-poo.“Elegant though it is in appearance, the hoopoe is not at all particular about the condition of its nest, which it makes in the interior of a worm-eaten tree trunk. It lines the hole with a mortar composed of clay and cows’ dung, whereon it places a little bed of dry leaves and moss. This nest, so deep and so hard to keep clean, ought to be cleared out daily, but the parent bird does nothing about it, leaving the filth to accumulate until it forms a rampart all around the nest. This barricade may serve as an excellent defense against the birdnest-hunter, who would naturally hesitate to thrust his hand into the foul mess; and so I will not censure the bird too severely for its poor housekeeping.“The hoopoe is with us only in summer. Toward the first of September it crosses the Mediterranean to pass the winter under the warmer skies of Africa.”[188]
“I have been telling you about woodpeckers and the nuthatch, insect-eaters with chisel-shaped beaks for cutting into trees and getting out the worms hidden in the wood. Then I spoke of the wryneck, which does not use its beak for hacking old tree trunks, but can, like the woodpecker, stick out its tongue on the ants’ path and catch the insects with the glue of its saliva. Now we come to some more insect-eaters, but their work is less laborious than that of the woodpecker. They do not hack and hew tree trunks, but merely seek their prey in the cracks and crannies that serve as its refuge. For this kind of hunting they have a long and slender beak that curves slightly downward.
“As their name implies, climbers show great agility in climbing. Their beak is very narrow, the better to penetrate the cracks in the bark of trees, and it is bent like an arch and has a fine point. Their feet have three talons pointing forward and one, much stronger, pointing backward. We have in France two climbers, one of which is furnished with a tail composed of a few long, stiff feathers that serve as a support to the bird in climbing, as[185]the woodpecker’s tail serves that bird, while the other is not thus equipped.
“The so-called common climber is a tiny bird with whitish plumage spotted with brown above and tinged with red on the rump and tail. Its life is a most laborious one. It frequents woods, orchards, and the trees of our public promenades, where you may see it always busily engaged in examining every square inch of the surface of tree trunks in order to thrust its slender beak into the cracks of the bark and catch any lurking gnats, bugs, caterpillars, or cocoons. It runs down the trunk as fast as it runs up, which woodpeckers cannot do, their progress always being upward, either in a straight line or spirally. It ascends in little leaps and bounds, and helps itself along by propping its tail against the tree. Arrived at the top of the trunk, it descends quickly and begins the same operations on the next tree. At every step it cheers itself up with its sharp, flute-like cry. At nightfall it retires into some hole in a tree trunk. There, too, it makes its nest, which is formed of fine grasses and bits of moss held together by threads from spiders’ webs. Its eggs, from five to seven in number, are pure white with red spots.
“The wall-climber, or scaler, makes its way up the perpendicular faces of rocks, ramparts, and old walls, prying out all the various insects and their eggs that may be lurking in the fissures. With its large claws it clings to these vertical surfaces and does not use its tail as a support. This bird, which[186]is of about the size of a lark, has unusually beautiful plumage of a light ash color, with touches of bright red, black, and pure white on the wings. The throat is black, and so is the tail, the latter being edged with white at the tip. The richness of its coloring and the habit it has of remaining stationary in its flight before the rock or other surface it is exploring, just as butterflies hold themselves motionless on their wings while they suck the honey of flowers with their trumpet, have given it the expressive name of butterfly of the rocks. It inhabits the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Jura Mountains. In winter it visits old buildings in our towns.
HoopoeHoopoe
Hoopoe
“The hoopoe is especially remarkable for its double row of long red feathers edged with black and white, which, at the bird’s pleasure, are made to lie down toward the back or stand upright on the head and spread out as a handsome crest. The rest of the plumage is wine-colored, except the tail and wings, which are black. The wings are also ornamented with white stripes running across them.
“In size this bird is about as large as a turtle-dove. It lives alone and prefers to remain on the[187]ground usually, rarely perching unless on the lower branches of trees. Its favorite haunts are moist fields, which it walks over at a sedate pace, every now and then erecting its beautiful crest either from satisfaction at having found a savory mouthful or because of being startled by something, for it is a very timid bird. With its long beak it digs in the ground for grubs, beetles, and crickets; or it gathers ants on its viscous tongue. When it has had enough it withdraws to some low branch and there digests its food at leisure. At the mating season it says,poo, poo, whence without doubt comes its familiar nickname of poo-poo.
“Elegant though it is in appearance, the hoopoe is not at all particular about the condition of its nest, which it makes in the interior of a worm-eaten tree trunk. It lines the hole with a mortar composed of clay and cows’ dung, whereon it places a little bed of dry leaves and moss. This nest, so deep and so hard to keep clean, ought to be cleared out daily, but the parent bird does nothing about it, leaving the filth to accumulate until it forms a rampart all around the nest. This barricade may serve as an excellent defense against the birdnest-hunter, who would naturally hesitate to thrust his hand into the foul mess; and so I will not censure the bird too severely for its poor housekeeping.
“The hoopoe is with us only in summer. Toward the first of September it crosses the Mediterranean to pass the winter under the warmer skies of Africa.”[188]