THE CLOCK-BIED. 
159 
The species of this family^ as observed by the late Mr. 
Whitfield, in West Africa, frequent the dense brush, and 
when 'alarmed, but only then, raise their crests ; they are 
generally very inanimate. During the day they feed on ba- 
nanas, or on the berries of the Christmas bush. While at 
the Gambia he found the grey species, which has no cry, 
and the lemon-cered species ; the cere of this in preserved 
specimens is black, quite altering the fine contrast which 
the colours present when the bird is alive. 
Mr. Whitfield, though for many years in West Africa, 
never saw their nest ; but they are said to lay four delicate 
white eggs, in the hollows of rotten trees. One of the 
species is called the Clock -bird,^^ from a definite call which 
it utters four times a day ; and as it is believed to announce 
eight o^clock in the morning, twelve o"* clock at mid-day, 
four 0^ clock, and sunset, the fancy and the name are well 
applied. Mr. W. observed that the grey species fed for 
the most part on the ground. 
Dr. Andrew Smith^ fell in w^th a grey species {Cliizmrhis 
concolor) on the banks of a river in South Africa, in 25° 
24' south latitude. It was either perched on the highest 
branches of the trees, or flitted about among them in search 
* Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa. (Birds, pi. ii.) 
