THE HORN BILLS 1827 



Abyssinian bird being very evidently open in front, while the South- African species 

 has the casque closed, or nearly so. The Abyssinian form measures upward of 

 three and one-half feet in length, with a wing of twenty-four inches, and has the 

 entire plumage black, excepting the primary quills, which are white. The bill and 

 casque are black, with a red patch on the lower mandible, and the feet are dusky 

 black; while the bare parts of the face are red, with the exception of the naked 

 skin round the eye and on the middle of the throat, which is blue. The female has 

 the bare skin of the throat and region of the eye purple. In Northeastern Africa 

 this hornbill is said to be found in the wooded steppes and on the mountains up to a 

 height of four thousand feet, though more common between one and two thousand 

 feet. After the breeding season they assemble in small flocks, when as many as ten 

 or a dozen are seen together. Of the habits of the South- African ground hornbill 

 more is recorded. Known to the Boers as the bromvogel, this species is regarded 

 as a fetich among many of the native tribes, being a rain omen with the Kaffirs, 

 who believe that if one of these hornbills is killed there will be rain for a long time, 

 and who, therefore, in times of drought will throw one of the birds into a vley, in 

 order that rain may follow. Colonel Bowker says that the bird is so offensive that 

 the native idea is that the throwing of its body into the water will " make the river 

 sick," and that " the only way of getting rid of this is to wash it away to the sea, 

 which can only be done by heavy rains and flooding of the river. ' ' These hornbills 

 seem to be practically omnivorous, and devour great numbers of beetles, worms, 

 mice, small birds, etc. They generally associate in small companies, and when a 

 snake is discovered, they come round it, each holding a wing stretched out and flap- 

 ping the reptile with it until it is irritated and seizes hold of the feathers, when all 

 the birds crowd round it and peck it, until it looses its hold, this manoeuvre being 

 repeated till the snake is dead. If the latter advances, the birds fold both wings 

 in front of them, so as to form a shield, thus covering their head and other vulnera- 

 ble parts. Mr. Ayres says that their call note, coo-coo, can be heard at a distance 

 of two miles. The nests are placed in the holes of trees, or in hollows formed by 

 three or four branches striking off from the same spot. 



The rhinoceros hornbills form the typical representatives of the 

 Rhinoceros !*.* , * , . , . 



Hornbills secon( * subfamily Bucerotince, all of which are more arboreal m their 



habits than the last group, in consequence of which the metatarsus is 

 proportionately shorter, not exceeding the third toe and its claw in length. The 

 subfamily may be divided into two sections, according to the form of the tail. The 

 first section, in which the tail is squared, includes the African trumpeter hornbills 

 (Bycanistes}, of which the head is figured on p. 1825, the members of the present 

 genus, as well as several smaller forms, such as Penelopides of the Philippines and 

 Celebes, and Lophoceros of Africa; the latter genus containing the smallest member 

 of the family, measuring only fifteen inches in length. The common rhinoceros 

 hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros}, inhabiting the Malay Peninsula and the islands of 

 Sumatra and Borneo, is of large size, measuring nearly four feet in length. The 

 color is black, with a slight gloss of steel blue or dark green; the rump and upper 

 tail coverts being white, as is also the tail, which has a broad bar of black just 

 before the tip; while the under surface of the body is black, with the exception 



