CHARACTERISTIC BIRDS. 
189 
the hand, which they barely fill, like a shot, on flying 
game, not less than thrice their own weight, which, 
nevertheless, soon fall before them. Characteristic of that 
country we find the little Brahminy Kite ( Haliastur ) by 
the side of the most powerful of the feathered fish¬ 
hunting birds,—Pallas’ Sea Eagle ( Thalassaetos pelagicus ), 
the Frog-mouthed Goatsucker (. Batrachostomus ), the Broad- 
bills (. Eurylcemus ), and the Lane-throated Bee-eater 
(.Nyctiornis ): these also are characteristic, viz., the Horn- 
bills, and amongst them the Rhinoceros Hornbill 
( Buceros rhinoceros), a creature which looks like a 
toy, or resembles the result of a most whimsical 
effort at creation by Nature, in those dreamy or fairy 
islands found in the southern hemisphere. From 
the forehead, above a tremendous and apparently 
useless beak, springs a horn, such that a glance at this 
bird irresistibly reminds one of the Rhinoceros, from 
which it gets its name. The Hornbills inhabit Asia, 
south of the Himalayas, its large islands, and Central 
Africa: it would appear that Asia, alone, can be their 
true home. The ancient writers called this bird the 
Horned Raven of India; and many naturalists have 
accepted this designation, inasmuch as they have, some¬ 
what erroneously, classified the Ravens and Hornbills 
together as belonging to one family. 
We have still to mention other birds which are strictly 
Asiatic : the Short-tailed Woodpeckers (. Hemicircus ), pretty 
little members of that rich group, so remarkable for 
the shortness of their tails; the Scansorial Barbets 
(.Megalaima ); the Koels (. Eudynamys ). Among these 
species the Indian Koel ( Eudynamys orient alls), renowned 
in India for its choice of Crow’s-nests, in which to lay its 
parasitic eggs; the Minivets ( Pericrocotus ), birds whose 
