AFRICAN HORNBILL. 235 



avenues which opened almost everywhere before us. 

 Various parasitical plants, curiously interwoven, hung 

 suspended from the loftiest branches of the trees, 

 forming a kind of airy trellis- work. Through this 

 the view into the verdant vale beneath, upon which 

 the meridian sun poured forth a flood of glowing 

 light, was one of peculiar interest. Birds of various 

 plumage were flying from spray to spray, while a 

 flight of parrots, perched on the summits of the 

 tallest trees, made the shady bowers resound with 

 their shrill note, until the discharge of a gun put 

 them all to flight. 



It has been remarked that Africa cannot boast of 

 possessing any of those gems of ornithology, the fairy 

 humming birds, which dart like sun-beams among 

 the flowery parterres of the western world, 



" And on their restless fronts 



Bear stars, illumination of all gems." 



Yet there are a variety of little sugar birds that flit 

 about the delicate blossoms of the aloes, proteas, and 

 other beautiful shrubs, for which Southern Africa is 

 so justly celebrated; besides these, there are the 

 golden cuckoos, loris, trogons, and many other birds, 

 whose plumage, if not so brilliant, is scarcely less 

 beautiful. Here we enriched our collection with 

 many scarce and valuable specimens, amongst which 

 was the great African hornbill, Buceros Africanus,&n 

 extraordinary bird about the size of a turkey. The 

 under part of the neck is entirely without feathers, 

 and covered with skin of a red fleshy colour. Its 



