IN WESTERN LIBERIA. 211 



When Prof. Schlegel, in 1862, established his B. pul- 

 chrirostris, he was well aware of its close relationship 

 with Cassin's Tockus camurus , which he stated in the 

 following words: »I1 parait que notre Buceros pulchriros- 

 tris est très-voisin du Tockus camurus de Cassin , origi- 

 naire du Cap Lopez , et qu'il ne s'en distingue en effet 

 que par une taille un pen moins forte , et par son bee 

 noir au dernier quart de sa longueur; mais comme ces 

 caractères sont constants dans les trois individus que nous 

 possédons de cette espèce, comme ceux du B. camurus le 

 sont dans les trois jindividus examines par Mr. Cassin, 

 nous n'avons pas cru devoir confondre ces deux oiseaux 

 sous un même nom." — Since that time , the Leyden Mu- 

 seum has obtained two specimens of the true Tockus ca- 

 murus^ also collected by Du Chaillu at the Cape Lopez 

 and at the Gaboon and by the German Expedition on the 

 Loango Coast. As they had, like Cassin's types, their 

 bills entirely red, they could but confirm Prof. Schlegel's 

 ideas, developed in the above cited passage. 



My Liberian specimens now show that Mr. Elliot is 

 right in uniting B. pulchrirostris with Cassin's B. camu- 

 rus, under the latter name. There is not the least dif- 

 ference in color of plumage between the specimens of the 

 three cited localities. The color of the bill, however, 

 which formed the strongest argument of Prof. Schlegel , 

 shows evidently the identity of both species , as otherwise 

 four of my Liberian birds, with entirely red bills, would 

 belong to B. camurus , while the two others , provided 

 with black tips, would belong to B. pulchrirostris. The 

 following table will show the difference in size between 

 the specimens from the Gaboon, the Gold Coast and Li- 

 beria, There seems not to be any remarkable difference in 

 size and color between males and females of the same lo- 

 cality except the larger size of bill in the males. The black 

 tip of the bill is by no means characteristic of one or the 

 other sex , being more probably peculiar to younger spe- 

 cimens of both sexes. 



Notes from the Leyden IVEuseum , "Vol. "VII. 



