As excited as I was last April to see my first Hoopoe at Marloes, I was saddened today to read an account of the fate of a Hoopoe in Pembrokeshire at the turn of the Eighteenth Century. In his 'Historical Tour Through Pembrokeshire' Richard Fenton on his section travelling from Fishguard to St Davids, writes
"At Penyrhiw, the farm to
which this wild uncultivated tract is a sheep walk, was lately shot a
Huppoo, a solitary bird, two being seldom seen together, and in this
kingdom very uncommon; even in Egypt, where common, not very gregarious"
(p11)
He goes on to describe the bird from Bewick's description with an illustration, adding that "In
Sweden the appearance of this bird is vulgarly considered a presage to
war, and it was formerly deemed in our country a forerunner of some
calamity" (p12)
David Meanwell