240 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



most of the species, increased by a casque, or protuberance, 

 placed at the base of the bill on the culmen, and occasionally as 

 large as the bill itself ; this is generally hollow or cellular inter- 

 nally, said to be heavy and solid in B. galeatus. The bill itself is 

 almost always arched, tolerably wide at the base, and more or less 

 dilated, acute at the tip, often irregularly serrated, or denticulated 

 on the margins. In youth the margins are more regularly 

 serrated, but the edges get broken off and irregular with age ; and 

 so much so about the middle of the bill, as now and then to leave 

 a wide gap there : the casque is small, or wanting at first, 

 becoming developed by age. 



The orbital region, and sometimes the whole face likewise, 

 are naked ; and there is usually a naked space on the throat. The 

 eyelids are protected by strong eye-lashes. The wings are short 

 or moderate, but ample, with the three first quills graduated, 

 and the 4th or 5th longest ; the secondaries are elongated, and 

 nearly equal to the primaries. The tail is generally long, of ten 

 feathers, rounded or graduated, sometimes with the two centre- 

 feathers elongated. The tarsi are in most short and stout, with 

 transverse scutie in front, reticulated behind ; the outer-toe is joined 

 to the middle one, nearly to the apex ; the inner-toe not so much 

 so ; and the sole of the foot is large and broad. 



The tongue is short, heart-shaped as in the Hoopoes. The 

 sternum is somewhat square in form, widening posteriorly, and has 

 one shallow emargination on each side. The furcula is small, and 

 does not join the sternum. The oesophagus is wide, permitting 

 large morsels to pass down whole. The stomach is moderately 

 muscular, and the intestines are rather short, and destitute of coeca. 

 They have a palatal protuberance like the Buntings. The body- 

 plumage is destitute of the supplementary plume, and the bones are 

 more completely permeated by air than in most other birds, even to 

 the very bones of the feet. Most of them have the uropygial 

 glands much developed, the secretion perhaps being required to 

 protect the plumage during the rains, their large size exposing 

 them much to the full force of the monsoon. 



The Hombills usually live in pairs, most of them associating, 

 at times, in small flocks ; and they live almost entirely on fruit, 



