124 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
heads and most vulnerable parts. Their call, which consists of but 
one note repeated, a deep and sonorous coo-coo, may be heard at a 
great distance; I have myself heard it, under favourable circumstances, 
at a distance of nearly two miles. ‘The call of the female is exactly 
the same coo-coo, only pitched one note higher than the male. The 
latter invariably calls first, the female immediately answering, 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 easily be 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 sent by me to London 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.” 
In his essay on Transvaal ornithology the same gentleman con- 
tinues :—‘‘ There are two or three kinds of land-tortoise in the 
district of the river Limpopo which are eaten and much esteemed by 
the natives, and also fully appreciated by the large Hornbill, which 
attacks the tortoise and very neatly picks every atom of flesh from 
the unhappy reptile, eating also the legs and head and leaving the 
entire shell without damage. I could not at first imagine what it 
could be which thus destroyed the tortoises without injuring their 
shell ; but the Caffres assured me that it was the large Hornbill 
during the summer months, when the tortoises are out in numbers.” 
In the Zambesi region, Dr. Kirk says that it is “ widely spread, 
but nowhere plentiful, and difficult to obtain, being shy, feeding on 
the ground in the open plains or in a forest. Occurs singly, but 
more frequently in pairs or in flocks of five or six. A specimen is in 
Dr. Dickerson’s collection.” Mr. Andersson also found it common 
in Ondonga, but very wild, and he also observed it sparingly in the 
desert near the Okavango. 
He gives the following note on its habits :—“The ground seems 
to be the chief resort of these birds, and I have seen them running at 
a tremendous rate; but they also perch on trees when flushed. 
They utter at times an incessant kind of booming cry, which may 
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