from the colony of Natal. 133 



distance ; I have myself heard it, under favourable circumstances, 

 at a distance of nearly two miles. The call of the female is ex- 

 actly the same coo-coo, only pitched one note higher than that 

 of the male. The male invariably calls first, the female imme- 

 diately answers, and they continue this for perhaps five or ten 

 minutes, every now and then, as they are feeding. Their flight 

 is heavy, and when disturbed, although very shy, they seldom fly 

 more than half a mile before they alight again. At a distance 

 they would be easily mistaken for turkeys, their body being deep 

 and rather compressed, similarly to those birds, with the wings 

 carried well on the back. The little pouch on the throat they 

 are able to fill with air at pleasure — the male bird now sent 

 doing this before he died. 



I think their principal range of country is on the coast, and 

 from twenty to thirty miles inland. They roost on trees at 

 night, but always feed on the ground. 



[Neither of the specimens sent by Mr. Ayres exhibited the 

 full development of the remarkable elevation on the upper part 

 of the bill which distinguishes the old males of this species. — 

 J. H. G.] 



135. BucERos BUCCINATOR, Temm. Trumpeter Hornbill. 



136. Toccus coRONATUs (Bodd.). Crowned Hornbill. 

 [This species and the preceding one were both sent to Mr. 



Stevens by Mr. Gueinzius. The latter was ticketed, " $ . Irides 

 yellow."— J. H. G.] 



137. Chera progne (Bodd.). Progne Widow-bird. 

 Male. Eye nearly black. These beautiful birds are very 



plentiful in the inland parts of the colony and in the Free 

 State and Trans- Vaal, but are seldom found within eight or ten 

 miles of the coast. They are gregarious, there being perhaps one 

 or two males to twenty or thirty females. In the months of 

 December and January (the breeding season) the males assume 

 their gaudy plumage (when their flight is in consequence heavy, 

 but still, with or across the wind, they are able to sustain it a 

 considerable distance), again shedding their tails in March. 

 The females are brown, as are also the males, excepting in the 

 months previously mentioned, the only distinguishing mark 



