306 HORN-BILL. 



back part ; the whole is dull yellow, with the base dusky black . 

 round the eyes are several stiff hairs ; colour of the plumage on the 

 head, body, and wings black, with a gloss of blue or green irrdifferent 

 lights ; and the hind head has the feathers elongated, into a sort of 

 crest ; the lower belly, thighs, and vent are dirty rufous white, and 

 the feathers softer than in the black parts ; the tail occupies half the 

 length of the bird, white, with a broad bar of black, crossing it about 

 the middle, and the shape of the end rounded ; the legs are scaly and 

 brown. 



A specimen of the above was brought from Java to Amsterdam ; 

 it is also said to be met with in Borneo, in the forests, uniting in 

 great flocks, to feed on carcasses. 



We may suppose the bill to vary, as in others of the Genus ; for 

 in the collection of the late Sir A. Lever, I observed one, in which 

 the helmet did not turn up to meet at the end as in Levaillant's figure ; 

 and if we conjecture right in respect to that quoted from Willughby, 

 it is probable, that the curvature is greater or less according to the age 

 of the bird. I suspect too, that the plumage varies in the different 

 sexes, as in the Rhinoceros Horn-bill ; for it appears, that in some, 

 every part of the plumage, except the tail, is black; while in others, 

 the under parts from the breast are white. I therefore should not be 

 surprised if, on our further acquaintance, these two may prove to be 

 one and the same bird. 



M. Levaillant seems not well to comprehend what bird it can 

 be, which is called by Labat, the Brae, except he means the Rhino- 

 ceros bird, in one or other stages of growth : yet it may belong to 

 some species yet larger; as Labat says, the bill, including the head, 

 measures full eighteen inches ; whereas the bill of the Rhinoceros, in 

 no instance we have seen, is more than twelve. 



Mr. Barrow met with a specimen of this in the Kaffer country, far 

 from the Cape of Good Hope, and calls it a curious and rare bird. 



