6:38 



BUCHANANIA BUCIDA. 



room for only one or two of the species in each divi- 

 sion . 



I. WlTH A PROTUBERANCE. 



RHINOCEROS HORNBILL (Buceras rhinoceros'). This 

 is a native chiefly of the eastern Archipelago, and it 

 is the largest bird of the genus. Its length is nearly 

 lour feet, of which the bill takes up at least one foot, 

 and the extent of the wings is about three feet. The 

 true bill is slightly crooked, and the mandibles are 

 rough and jagged in the edges. The protuberance 

 is, in old birds, of nearly the same size as the bill 

 itself. It advances for some distance upon the 

 cnlmen of the upper mandible, with which it is con- 

 nected as one substance, and then it turns upward 

 something in the same manner, but not in the same 

 form, as the horn of a rhinoceros, and terminates in 

 a variously shaped point in different individuals. 

 The true bill is black at the base of the upper 

 mandible, passing through a dull reddish colour to 

 pale straw yellow at the point. The protuberance is 

 yellowish on the under side, and reddish on the 

 upper ; and there is a black line proceeding along 

 the junction with the upper mandible on each side, 

 and continued to the point of the protuberance, 

 separating the yellow from the red. This line very 

 much resembles the meeting of a pair of mandibles, 

 and makes the bird appear as if it had two bills, the 

 under one slightly curved, and tapering to a sharp 

 point, and the upper turning upwards, and even 

 backwards. The upper one, however, has no opening 

 of any kind, but consists of a very thin horny case, 

 covering and being connected with a number of 

 horny cells, the walls of which are very thin, so that 

 the whole protuberance is not heavier than a crest 

 of loose feathers of the same size. The colours of 

 this curious bill are much brighter when the bird is 

 alive, and in good health, than in the preserved 

 specimens. 



The colour of the bird is black, but the tail, which 

 is slightly wedge-shaped at the end, indicating a bird 

 which has to make its way among bushes, or other 

 tall vegetation, is tipped with dull white. The eyes 

 arc large, and shaded from the upward light by super- 

 ciliary bristly feathers. The feet and tarsi are strong, 

 and covered with large scales of a brownish colour, 

 and the nails on the toes are flat and blunt. There 

 is nothing about this large, and, at first appearance, 

 formidable bird, that can in any way be considered 

 as a weapon capable of doing injury to any but very 

 small animals ; and in countries where the waste of 

 life is great as well as the production, it is understood 

 that the chief office of the hornbill is that of scavenger. 

 Its general manners are dull and sluggish. 



THE UNICORN HORNBILL (B. monoceros) has the 

 protuberance of the bill continued nearly parallel to 

 the curve of the mandibles, and a portion toward the 

 point, which is sharp, detached from the upper mun- 

 dible. The general colour, as in the last-mentioned 

 species, is black, but glossed with reflections of green 

 and purple. The first three quills of the wings and 

 the tail-feathers are white. 



THE GREAT-BILLED HORNBILL (B. cassidw) is 

 nearly of the same size as the rhinoceros, but it is 

 more showy in its plumage. The body, wings, and 

 thighs, are of a rich deep bronze, or rather nearly 

 black green, of very splendent lustre, and brilliant 

 reflections ; the tail is white, the neck and breast rich 

 golden yellow ; and the top of the head, on which 



the feathers are produced and siiky, forming a loose 

 crest, is rich maroon red. The bill is about ten 

 inches in length, very large at the base, but tapering 

 toward the tip, and for the greater part of its length 

 of an uniform yellow colour, but toward the base, 

 each of the mandibles is sheathed with three ridges 

 of transparent horny matter, which advance by curves 

 upon the culmen and mesial line of the lower man- 

 dible. These ridges are of a reddish orange colour, 

 and separated from each other and divide the yellow 

 part of the bill by lines and furrows of deep black. 

 The protuberance of the bill rises from the culmen, 

 in front of the basal ridges, forming there a trenchant 

 edge, standing naturally and rounded. It rises to 

 nearly the same measure as the depth of the bill, and 

 proceeds backwards in a curve descending on the 

 head opposite to the posterior part of the eyes. The 

 sides are formed into ridges convex to the front, and 

 the whole is of a purple red colour. 



This species is an inhabitant of the Eastern Archi- 

 pelago, and it is said to be much more of a moun- 

 taineer than those formerly mentioned ; but to be an 

 inhabitant of the wooded mountains only, and to 

 live chiefly upon fruits, which are very abundant 

 in that part of the world. From the structure of this 

 species, and the character of the vegetation where it 

 is native, we might perhaps be led to conjecture, if 

 not to conclude, that the protuberance on the bills 

 of these birds, serves to divide the flexible vegetation 

 for them so that they may see and reach those sub- 

 stances on which they feed. 



Ten or twelve more species of hornbills with more 

 or less of a protuberance on the upper mandible, are 

 mentioned by systematic writers on ornithology ; but 

 too little is known respecting them for making the 

 details of any use, or any interest to the general 

 reader, as the greater part of them are only descrip- 

 tions of single specimens which have not been seen 

 by the describers till they were dead, and in part, 

 at least, altered. 



II. HORNBILLS WITHOUT PROTUBERANCE. 



In all respects, except that of not having the 

 enlargement from the base of the upper mandible, 

 these appear to agree very much with the former 

 division. The bill is of the same enlarged form, and 

 nearly of the same shape ; and there is not enough 

 known respecting either the one or the other, for 

 enabling us to know with any certainty, to what it is 

 that the very singular formation of their mandibles 

 adapts them. But as those with the protuberance 

 are most plentiful in the Eastern islands, and those 

 without in India and Africa, and as the former is the 

 place where the most exuberant vegetation is met with, 

 some colour at least is given to the conjecture which 

 we have ventured to hazard ; but we do not give 

 that conjecture as an established truth ; and, indeed, 

 before we can consider anything as established re- 

 specting the habits of those most singular of all the 

 feathered tribes (at least in the form of their bills), 

 there must be much and careful observation in those 

 places which they inhabit. 



BUCHANANIA (Roxburgh). Named in com- 

 pliment to Francis Buchanan, M.D. A genus of 

 two East Indian trees, regarded for their fruit, being 

 allied in some way or other to the mango. The 

 trees were called Mangifera by Lamarck, and Spondias 

 in the Hortus Bengalensis. 



BUCIDA (Linnaeus). So named from bos, an 



