206 
YERTEBRATA. 
fruits. 
The 
long : 
and especially on nutmegs, from whicli, he says, their flesh acquires a delicious flavor. 
They are found in the dense forests and jungles, 
■where they sit upon the highest branches of the 
trees, often in large troops; their nesting places 
are the holes of trees, which, like the parrots and 
toucans, they enlarge for the purpose of nidifica- 
ation ; the female lays four eggs. Their flight is 
effected by a very rapid motion of the vsn'ngs, 
which produces a considerable noise ; this is ac- 
companied by a continual clattering of their man- 
dibles, so that the passage of a flight of hornbills 
causes a sound which is said to be productive of 
very uncomfortable sensations when its orig-in is 
unknown, as it bears a good deal of resemblance 
to one of those sudden, violent winds which often 
rise nnexpectedly in the tropics. * 
There are several species : the Crowned Took, 
Buceros coronatus, is African, with an enormous 
red bill ; the body smoke-color above and whit- 
ish below. Levaillant saw flocks of five hun- 
dred of these, with crows and vultures, feeding 
on the remains of one elephant. The B. cava- 
tus is of the Himalaya Mountains ; the body is 
of white and blackish-gray ; bfll large, hooked, 
and having a sort of casque above the beak, 
which appears heavy, but is light, frail, and easily 
crushed. 
RiiiNOCEROS HoRNBiLL, B. Hkinoceros, is four feet long, including the bill, which is a foot 
it is found in India. There are still other species. 
THE CROWNED TOOK. 
THE CRESTED TOTJUACO. 
THE MUSOPHAaiD^ OR PLANTAIN-EATERS. 
These are African birds, and comprise several 
genera ; among them are the Touracos, which 
are very elegant birds, feeding on soft fruits ; 
the prevailing colors are brilliant green. The 
Crested Tour ago, Chizcerhis variegata^ is twen- 
ty inches long ; light gray above ; under plum- 
age white ; crest far back on the head. Other 
species arc the Corythaix Senegalensis, 0. ery- 
throlophzis, Musophaga violacea, &c. 
THE OPISTHOCOMID^ OR HOATZINS. 
These birds, of which there is but a single 
species, the IIoatzin, Opisthocomus cristatus, 
arc closely allied to the preceding ; they live in 
large flocks on the banks of rivers and creeks 
in Brazil and Guiana ; they are nearly as large 
as peacocks, and are similar in shape, with a 
tall crest of narrow feathers on the head. The 
bill is thick, short, convex, and bent down at the 
tip ; it feeds on the leaves of a particular tree — 
the Arum arborescens ; it lays three to four eggs, 
