HoRSBILLS. - 



-BIRDS.- 



-SCANSORES. 



37; 



the middle; the e^normous bill is red at the base, yel- 

 lowish at the apex , and the upper mandible bears a very 

 large appendage ;. t its base, extending nearly half the 

 length of the bill , and turning up at tlie extremity to 

 form a sort of ho •.■n. This bird is found principally in 

 the islands of thf; Eastern Archij)elago. 



THE lIALAB.iE HOKNBILl {Bacervs pica) is about 

 two feet six inc'ies in length, and is likewise black, but 

 has tl)e whole of the beUy, and the tips of the wing- 

 feathers and of those of tlie tail, except the two middle 

 ones, white; the appendage of the upper mandible 

 extends more ihan half the length of the bill, of which 

 its upper margin follows the curve ; it is rounded above 

 at the base, bi.t becomes sharp-edged towards the apical 

 portion, whert. it is crossed by a black band descendmg 

 obliquely to th 3 upper mandible itself, and running along 

 the line of junction of the bill and its appendage. This 

 species is oom.iion in India, and especially in Ceylon. 



THE PHILD'PINE HOENBIIL [Duccros hicornis) is 

 of the size of a fowl, black above and white beneath, 

 with the two outer featliera of the tail black. The bill 

 is very large and stout, and nine inches in length ; the 

 appendage of the upper mandible is six inches long, 

 reaches back beyond the eyes, and terminates in front 

 in two projecting angles. This bird occurs in the 

 I'hili|ipine Islands, and alsu in Cliina and Sumatra. 



THE FLAT-HELMETED HORNBIIL {Duceros hydro- 

 corax), which is likewise an inhabitant of the Philippines, 

 measures about two feet and a half in length. It has 

 a flat appendage to the upper mandible, which, with the 

 bill, is bright red in the adult bird, with a broad black 

 band surrounding the base ; the back of the head, the 

 neck, and a part of the breast, are reddish-chestnut ; 

 the remainder of the breast and the belly are black ; 

 the legs reddish ; the back grayish-brown, and the tail- 

 feathers tawny-white. 



THE EOUND-HELMETED HOENBIIL [Buceros galca- 

 tun) is remarkable for the great strength and solidity of 

 the basal appendage of the upper mandible, which is of 

 great size, but forms a simple protuberance at the base 

 of the bill, rounded above, and cut off nearly straight 



in front; this helmet, with the corresponding part of 

 the bill is deep red, the rest of the bill is yellowish. 

 This is a large species with a gi-eatly developed tail, of 

 which the two middle feathers are much longer than 

 the rest. It is an uihabitant of New Guinea. 



THE ABYSSnriAN HORNBIU, {Bucorvus ahysnini- 

 cus) is a very large species, measuring about lorty-five 

 inches in length. It is of a black colour, with the whig- 

 primaries white, and a red naked skin on the throat, 

 which is also furnished with two wattles. The bill is 

 about nine inches in length, and cm'ved throughout as 

 in the preceding species ; it is furnished at the base of 

 the upper mandible with a comparatively small semi- 

 circular casque of great delicacy. This bird is very 

 common throughout Abyssinia, where it is known in 

 different districts under the names of Erkooji and 

 Abba-Gumbau. It is said to feed entirely upon insects, 

 especially locusts and beetles. The excrements of 

 this bird, when applied to the crown of the head in 

 bald people, are believed by the natives of Abyssinia 

 to produce a fresh covering of hair. 



THE EED-BELLED TOCKO {Tochus erythrorhynchus). 

 The birds forming the genus Tockus, altliough very 

 closely allied to the most typical Hornbills, are never- 

 theless distinguished from them by the total absence of 

 any casque or excrescence at the base of the upper 

 mandible. The present species, which is very abun- 

 dant on the west coast of Africa, is about twenty inches 

 in length, with a bright red bill of three inches and a 

 half long. Its head is adorned with a tuft of slender 

 plumes, wliich, w'ith the whole of the back of the neck, 

 are variegated with black and white ; the back is black, 

 variegated with white, the whole lower surface is pure 

 white, and the tail is blackish-gray with the extremity 

 white. 



THE BLACK-BILLED TOCKO [Tochus nasutus), which 

 is likewise a native of tropical Africa, is about the same 

 size as the preceding species, from which it is distin- 

 guished by its black bill, with a spot of yellow on each 

 side of the upper mandible beneath the nostrils. Its 

 general colour is gray above and white beneath. 



Order III.— SCANSORES. 



The order of Scansorial, or climbing birds, is distm- 

 guished from the other orders of the class by a peculiar 

 structure of the feet, as already indicated in our table 

 of orders (p. 235), and under the order Passeres (p. 

 272). This peculiarity consists in the reversed posi- 

 tion of the outer toe, which is turned backwards, so 

 that the foot of a Scansorial bird exhibits two toes 

 in front and two behmd — fig. 119. This is really the 

 only character common to all the birds placed in the 

 order Scansores — the structure of the other parts, from 

 which distinctive characters are usually derived, varying 

 greatly in dilferent members of the group — so that it 

 includes birds of very ditlerent aspects and modes of life. 

 It must be admitted also, tliat in several forms referred 

 to the preceding order, the outer toe, although not per- 



manently revereed, is reversible ; so that the foot is 

 capable of assuming the Scansorial character — adding 

 not a little to the difficulty of drawing a clear line of 

 demarcation between the two groups. 



Thus, although we have here retained the order 

 Scansores, as generally admitted by ornithologists, it is 

 not without a feeling that a considerable proportion of 

 its members might with propriety be arranged amongst 

 the Passerine birds, either forming a distinct group of 

 ZygodactyU, or Yoke-toed birds, or intermixed ^vith 

 the other famihes in accordance with their apparent 

 relationships ; and it may be as weU to indicate the 

 differences leading us to this view before proceeding 

 further. 



The Parrot,-;, which may be regarded as the typical 



