Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 11, 2025
Consequently writing to the 'Star' about another Guernsey bird a Hoopoe which had been recorded in that paper, I asked for information as to the occurrence of the Golden Oriole in the Islands, and shortly after the following letter signed "Tereus" appeared in the 'Star': "Concerning the occurrence of the Golden Oriole I cannot speak from my own personal knowledge, but I believe there can be no doubt that the bird has been occasionally seen here.
The tapestry curtain was swept aside at the base, leaving a small passage clear to the room beyond. In this opening now appeared the bright-crested head and eyes of the hoopoe, peeping mischievously at the intruder, who forthwith stepped down into the conservatory, holding forth to the little bird a friendly finger.
They meet at Shiraz, a place which possesses a climate so temperate and equable as to bring together the birds and fruits of the East and West, North and South; for there I saw and heard the Indian bulbul and the hoopoe, the European nightingale, the cuckoo, and the magpie, and I know that the fruits range from apples to dates. The nightingale is the favourite pet singing-bird of the Persians.
This, naturally, disgusted Tereus very much, and he "fell upon" the ladies with a sword, but, just as he was about to stab them to the heart, he was changed into a Hoopoe, Philomela into a nightingale, Procne into a swallow, while Itylus became a pheasant. "Vertitur in volucrem, cui stant in vertice cristae Prominet immodicum pro longa cuspide rostrum; Nomen epops volucri." OVID, Metam. lib. vi.
This shooting of every straggler to the Channel Islands is a great pity, especially with the spring arrivals, as some of them might well be expected to remain to breed occasionally if left undisturbed; and the proof of the Hoopoe breeding in the Channel Islands would be much more interesting than the mere possession of a specimen of so common and well-known a bird: if a local specimen should be wanted, it could be obtained equally well in autumn, when there would be no question as to the breeding.
Then she turned and glided with quick ophidian grace to the doorway from which she had first appeared, and was eclipsed by the curtain. The inner door shut; she was gone. Dull, dull and colorless was the conservatory. The hoopoe had flown out through the hall to the open air. Only the crocodile continued to keep Balder company.
The Hoopoe told of her power and glory, her riches, her wisdom, and her beauty, until Solomon sighed a great sigh and said, "It seems too good to be true! But we shall see." So the King wrote a letter to Balkis, bidding her follow the guidance of fate and come to the court of the wise King. This note he sealed with musk, stamped with his great signet, and gave to the Hoopoe, saying,
He robbed the Redbreast of his ruddy vest, the Hoopoe of his crown, and he secured a swallow-tail which he had long coveted. He took some rosy-redness from the Flamingo, the gilding of the Goldfinch, the gray down of an Eider-Duck. He burgled the Bluebird and the Redbird and the Yellowbird; and not one single feathered creature escaped his clever beak.
"If now you have spoken truth, take this letter to Queen Balkis; then come away." The Hoopoe did as he was bid, darting off towards the south like an arrow. And the next day he came to the palace of the Queen of Sheba, where she sat in all her splendor among her counselors. He hopped into the hall and dropped the letter into her lap, then flew away.
Doubtless that will come later on when it will be in the same category with the golden oriole, hoopoe, furze-wren, and other species that are regarded as always worth killing; that is to say, it will come the scramble for the wryneck's carcass if nothing is done in the meantime to restrain the enthusiasm of those who value a bird only when the spirit of life that gave it flight and grace and beauty has been crushed out of it when it is no longer a bird.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking