HAMMER-HEAD. 



305 



body, a short and thick neck, a very large head, and a beak rather longer than the 

 head, much compressed, straight, and bent down at the tip. The legs and toes are 

 of medium length, the latter connected at their bases by a web ; the wing is broad 

 and rounded, with its third quill the longest; the tail is moderately long and has 

 twelve feathers ; and the contour-feathers are thick and long, those on the back 

 and sides of the head being developed into a broad and bushy crest. The 



HAMMER-HEADS AND THEIR NEST ( nat. size). 



coloration is a uniform umber-brown, generally brighter on the under surface ; 

 the quills of the wings being shining and darker than the back, while those of the 

 tail have a broad purplish brown band at the tip, and smaller bars near the root. 

 The iris is brown, the beak black, and the leg and foot blackish brown or black. 



Nowhere abundant, the hammer-head is spread all over Africa, as well as 

 Madagascar and the south of Arabia ; and although generally inhabiting the 

 plains, in Abyssinia ascends to an elevation of some nine thousand feet in the 

 mountains. It frequents the neighbourhood of water in wooded districts, and 



VOL. IV. 20 



