I30 ON THE DHANE'SA, 



one of the most curious birds I have ever seen or 

 heard of. Some allowance, I trust, will be made, 

 from the consideration that this is my first essay: 

 perhaps I should never have made the attempt but 

 from having taken a drawing of the bird, and having 

 heard of its feeding upon the Nux vomica ; these cir^ 

 cumstances induced me to give the above account. 

 Wolf, in his description of Ceylon, has the follow- 

 ing words : " a very rare species too of cock is found 

 ci here, called Double-billed : this has a white double 

 * c bill, which is almost as large as the bird itself.'* 

 It is by no means improbable that this may be the 

 same bird which I have given an account of: the 

 beak of the Bregma Durwase, particularly when in the 

 act of flying, appears to be as large as the bird itself; 

 the depth in measurement is nearly the same. It is 

 impossible to form any reasonable conjecture respect-? 

 ing the use of the horn : that some it must have, 

 may naturally be supposed ; but what, must be left 

 to the future investigation of some one whose situation 

 will afford him full opportunity of making the in- 

 quiry : it is certainly an object worthy of attention -, 

 more particularly so, as tending to elucidate the wis- 

 dom-df the Supreme Being, who undoubtedly creates 

 nothing in vain. 



REMARK BY THE PRESIDENT. 



Though the genus of the Dhane's a be already 

 known to our naturalists by the appellations of Buce- 

 ros, Calaoy and HornVitl\ and though even the seve- 

 ral species be distinguished, I believe, with exactness, 



yet 



