THE GROUND HORN BILLS. 



355 



and with a semi-transparent skin, so that it looked more like a bag of jelly, with head and feet 

 stuck oil; than like a real bird." 



One genus of these Hornbills is so remarkable as to demand a special notice. 



THE GROUND HORNBILLS (Bucorax). 



These are an African form, of which there are two or three kinds, distinguished by the casque, 

 which is open hi the birds from Abyssinia, compressed and shut in the South African species (B. cafer). 



GROUND HOKNBILLS Of ABYSSLMA. 



Of the habits of the latter bird several accounts have been written, from which a few extracts are made ; 

 and the first is from a letter sent by Mr. Henry Bowker to Mr. Layard, after the publication of the latter's 

 "Birds of South Africa"* : " There are many superstitions connected with the 'Bromvogel.' The 

 bird is held sacred by the Kaffirs, and is killed only in times of severe drought, when one is killed 

 by order of the ' rain-doctor,' and its body thrown into a pool in a river. The idea is that the bird 

 has so offensive a smell that it will ' make the water 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. 

 The ground where they feed is considered good for cattle, and in settling in a new country, spots 

 frequented by these birds are chosen by the wealthy people. Should the birds, however, by some 

 chance, fly over a cattle kraal, the kraal is moved to some other place. They are mostly found in 

 * See Sharpe's Edition of Layard's " Birds of South Africa," p. 122. 



