THE STATUS OF THE HOOPOE.
161
being 1859-1863, in which 113 were recorded—but during the
remaining seventy-five years there was a gradual, but not con-
sistent, decrease to the end of the period. The last five-yearly
period, in which twenty-one appearances were recorded, was
the second lowest, the smallest number for any of these periods
being nineteen in the war period of 1914-1918. It has been
demonstrated that taking England and Wales as a whole, marked
changes in the number of appearances of the Hoopoe have
occurred. Have these changes been the same throughout the
area ? Considering the four districts into which the area was
divided, we find that the number of appearances for each division
has decreased, but a consideration of the proportional repre-
sentation reveals that East Anglia has suffered a greater loss
than any of the other three areas. The percentage of appear-
ances of East Anglia for the second fifty years is much below
that of the first half-century, while a similar comparison for the
other areas shows that the percentage of the South coast counties
and the Rest of the counties has increased, while the figure for
the North-east coast counties has. decreased a little. As to
Scotland and Ireland, the figures do not justify the conclusion
that there has been any alteration.
The monthly appearances for England and Wales have
undergone marked changes, and these appear to be still proceed-
ing. The months of April and September have been chiefly
affected. In the first quarter of a century, April had the ad-
vantage over September by 48.1 per cent., while in the fourth
of these periods this lead had declined to 6.0 per cent. The
seasonal representation of England and Wales exhibits also
considerable change. In the first period, 1839-1863, spring
had 65.8 per cent. more of the appearances of the period than
autumn, but in the fourth twenty-five yearly period spring
was only 21.8 per cent. in front. The monthly percentages for
Scotland are too variable to permit of deduction, and, although
simpler than the monthly percentages, the seasonal Scottish
percentages are difficult ; but they show that the autumn and
winter percentages have increased, when compared with the
first fifty years, this difference being most marked in autumn.
In regard to the monthly and seasonal percentages for Ireland,
less can be said for them than for those of Scotland.
The increase of the Hoopoe in England and Wales in the
first twenty-five years might be associated with increased ob-
servation. Fortunately we have the evidence of a reliable
ornithologist. Henry Stevenson, writing in 1866, of Norfolk,
stated that the Hoopoe had appeared in recent years in larger
numbers, and with much greater regularity than they used to.