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XVI 



INTRODUCTION. 





GENERA. 



The genera proposed for the various species of Hornhills are very numerous ; and many have 

 been adopted by those authors who have written upon these birds. At first sight it would 

 appear that so many divisions were superfluous ; but it depends in a great measure on what kind 

 of characters, and how many of them, an author deems necessary before he is willing to 

 establish a genus. The casques of the Hornbills are very peculiar ; and there are many species 

 which have this formation very similar to each other in appearance and structure ; and such 

 individuals naturally constitute separate groups. I do not see any impropriety in considering 

 these entitled to generic rank. Some are certainly generically distinct, viz. Bucorvus 

 abyssinicus, Hydrocorax planicornis, and E/HINOPlax vigil with its solid bony casque. 

 No one would, I think, place the three birds above named in the same genus ; and having 

 acknowledged this, it is impossible to stop with them, for there are many species that cannot 

 be placed with either of the three mentioned. "With but few exceptions, however, all the birds 

 that have been selected in this Monograph as types of the different genera have others in 

 the family closely allied to them ; and thus groups are readily formed and their generic position 



rendered clear. In the following list of genera I commence with Brisson, whose work in this 



respect is accepted by ornithologists. 



Type. 



1760. Hydrocorax, Brisson, Ornithologie, vol. iv. p. 565 ' . Hydrocorax planicornis, Merrem. 



1766. Buceros, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 153 .... Buceros rhinoceros, Linn. 



1828. Lophoceros, Hemp. & Ehrenb. Symb. Phys. . . . Buceros nasutus, Linn. 



1828. Alophius, iid. ibid, (nee Entomol.) Buceros erythrorhynchus, Temm. 



1831. Tockus, Less. Trait. Ornith. p. 252 Buceros erythrorhynchus, Temm. 



1831. Bucorvus, id. ibid Buceros abyssinicus, Linn. 



1842. Dichoceros, Gloger, Hand- und Hilfsbuch, p. 335 . Buceros bicornis, Linn. 



1842. Ehinoplax, id. ibid Buceros vigil, Eorst. 



1842. Meniceros, id. ibid. Buceros rhinoceros, Linn. 



1842. Bhynchoceros, id. ibid Buceros melanoleucus, Bodd. 



1844. Aceros, Hodg. Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 85 Buceros nepalensis, Hodg. 



1847. Tmetoceros, Cab. Wiegm. Archiv, p. 345 .... Buceros abyssinicus, Linn. 



1849. Anorrhinus, Reich. Syst. Av. pi. 49 Buceros galeritus, Temm. 



1849. Anthracoceros, id. ibid. pi. 50 . Buceros malabaricus, Gmel. 



1849. Bhyticeros, id. ibid Buceros undulatus, Shaw. 



1849. Cranoceros, id. ibid Buceros vigil, Porst. 



1849. Grammicus, id. ibid. pi. 49; Buceros nasutus, Linn. 



1849. Penelopides, id. ibid . Buceros panini, Bodd. 



1849. Bucorax, Sundev. (Efvers. Kongl. Vetensk. Akad. 



± orn. p. 161 . Buceros abyssinicus, Linn. 



1850. Cassidix, Bp. Consp. Gen. Av. p. 90 Buceros cassidix, Temm. 



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