Rhyticeros narcondami, 8p. Nov. 



A minaiure of R. ruficoUis, Vieil. Old adult male measured in the flesTi, 

 length, 26 in. ; Mil, from nostril to point, 4'o in. ; wing, 12. 



As we neared the island of Narcondam, which is a single 

 larg-e hill^ some 1,700 feet in height,, densely wooded, and 

 standing up solitary in the sea, between the Andamans and the 

 Coast of Burmah, we noticed a number of black looking birds 

 with white tails, flying about from tree to tree ; every one at 

 first pronounced them to be Caianas nicoharica, of which we had, 

 a few days previously, at Batty Malve seen such vast numbers. 

 As we, however, neared the shore, it became apparent that both 

 the necks and tails of these unknown birds were too long, and 

 tbe former too clumsy to belong to the Nicobar pigeon. The 

 island is a very difficult one to land on j everywhere rock-bound, 

 and its foundation running sheer down into deep water, so 

 that a few yards from the water's edg-e the sea is many fathoms 

 deep. When at last we landed, the whole interior, if I may so call 

 it, of the island, i. e., from beach to summit, was found to be 

 absolutely impenetrable; cyclone after cyclone had prostrated 

 generation after generation of trees, amidst the ^ebris of which, a 

 new, and densely packed generation had sprung up, interlaced with 

 canes and other thorny creepers, and it was with great difficulty 

 that, we succeeded in bagging a pair of this strange bird, which 

 turned out to be a small hornbill exactly like ruJieoUis. One or 

 two more were shot, but the jungle was too dense to permit their 

 being retrieved. Luckily we obtained one of each sex ; both 

 quite old birds, with six ribs on the casque, and the cutting edges 

 of the mandibles well worn by the wear and tear of many years. 

 These birds, as far as I can make out from descriptions and 

 plates, exactly resemble, so far as plumage, and the coloring of 

 the soft parts go, ruficoUis, Vieil ; but considering how muck 

 larger this Papuan species is described to be, as also that it has 

 apparently only been found in new Guinea, the Solomon Islands, 

 Waigou, Mysol,''Gillolo, and Ceram, and not in any single loca- 

 lity intervening between these places, which all lie to the east of 

 the 125* east longitude, and Narcondam, which lies in east latitude 

 94,^^ I think I am, prima facie, justified in describing it as a new 

 species. The following are the dimensions recorded in the flesh : 

 Male, length, 26; expanse, 41-5; tail, from vent, 8-25; 

 wing, 12 ; wings, when closed, reach to within 4-5 of end of 

 tail; tarsus, 2*05; mid toe, to root of claw, 1*5; claw only, 

 straight from point to base, 0"7 ; bill, from nostril to point; 4-5 ; 



