HOOPOE (Upupa epops), a bird conspicuous by its varie gated plumage and large erectile crest. It is a summer visitor to almost all Europe and to Siberia, wintering in Africa and India. It is resident in north-east Africa and China. It is about the size of a thrush, with a long, pointed, arched bill; its head and neck are golden buff ; the crest, which it opens and closes continually, is tipped with black and white ; the rest of the plumage is a com bination of black, white, grey, and buff.
The hoopoe feeds on worms, grubs, and insects. The nest, in a hole in a tree or wall, rapidly becomes a noisome spot, the faeces of both parents and young being left where they are deposited. The hoopoe is esteemed as food in southern Europe.
Other species occur in Asia and Africa. The European species often reaches the British Isles, where it is usually soon shot by some collector. But for this barbarism, it would probably breed.