506 ' The Roller-like Birds 



green and purple, except on the forehead, middle of the crown and nape, which 

 are deep chestnut, and the sides of the head and crown, as well as much of the 

 front of the neck, which are buffy white ; the tail is entirely white. The female is 

 black throughout with the exception of the white tail; the length is only about 

 thirty-eight inches. They are powerful, steady-flying birds of the forests, feed- 

 ing almost entirely on fruit and going about in considerable flocks. Blyth's 

 Wreathed Hornbill (R. subruficollis) is similar but smaller, the male being only 

 thirty-four inches long. 



Wedge-tailed Hornbills. Whereas in the foregoing genera the tail is nearly 

 or quite square at the end, in the remaining forms the central pair of feathers are 

 much longer than the outer pairs, whence they are collectively known as the 

 Wedge-tailed Hornbills. Of these the Pied Hornbills (Anthracoceros), the five 

 species of which are widely spread throughout the Oriental regions, have a very 

 large, high, and sharp-edged casque, which projects in front and is broader and 

 carried back above the crown behind. The Malabar Pied Hornbill (A. coronatus], 

 as the name implies, is pied black and white, while the tail is black with the ex- 

 ception of the elongated central pair, which are white. They frequent especially 

 the dry forests of the low country and have habits similar to those of all the large 

 Hornbills. As an example of those in which the casque is rudimentary or prac- 

 tically absent, mention may be made of the Rufous-necked Hornbill (Aceros 

 nepalensis) of the eastern Himalayas. In this bird, the sole representative of its 

 genus, there is no true casque, but the upper mandible is somewhat thickened 

 at the base and is crossed at the sides by a number of dark oblique grooves. Its 

 length is about four feet and the plumage black, glossed with dark green except 

 on head, neck, and lower parts, which are rufous. Still another form with a 

 small casque is the Bushy-crested Hornbill (Anorrhinus galeritus), which is dis- 

 tinguished by a well-developed bushy crest. This species, according to Davison, 

 is a shy bird, going about in small parties of five or six and keeping to the high 

 forest trees. 



African Wedge-tailed Hornbills. The African region is also the home of a 

 number belonging to the wedge-tailed group, among them Lophoceros, which is 

 not only the largest genus, embracing no less than nineteen species, but contains 

 the smallest of the Hornbills. They may be known by the moderate, curved bill, 

 which is with or without a small, keel-shaped casque, while the tail is only 

 moderately wedge-shaped and the head provided with a low crest of soft feathers ; 

 the plumage is white below but variously marked above. Perhaps the smallest 

 known species is the Hartlaub's Hornbill (L. hartlaubi) of West Africa, some- 

 times separated as the type of a separate genus (H orizocerus\ which is only fif- 

 teen inches long ; it is blackish gray above and dark gray below. Considerably 

 larger is the Red-billed Hornbill (L. erythrorhynchus] of Northeast and Northwest 

 Africa, which may be known by the dark red bill. This species, as well as others 

 of its relatives, seeks most of its food, which consists of fruit and insects, on the 

 ground. Another species is the Yellow-billed Hornbill (L. flaviroslris), so called 

 from its orange-yellow bill, and which Mr. Andersson says is a common bird in 

 Damara Land, where it is "found singly or in pairs, and being a comparatively 



