Volume Iii Part 22 (1/2)

_Rostrum elongatum, cra.s.sum, inane, deflexum, marginibus obtuse crenatis, epithemate inani, forma vario, in mandibulam superiorem imposito. Nares basales, ovatae_, (_lingua brevis, angusta, acuta_.

Illiger.) _Pedes gressorii._

Bill elongated, thick, hollow, deflexed, the margins obtusely crenated, with excrescences of various forms placed on the upper mandible.

Nostrils basal, oval. Tongue short, narrow, pointed. Feet gressorial.

Generic Types. _B. Rhinoceros_, _bicornis_. Linn.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_B. niger, abdomine, stria utrinque occipitali, apiceque rectricium albis; rostro subcristato, (carinato,) rubro._ Shaw.

Black Hornbill, with the abdomen, stripe on each side of the nape, and tip of the tail white. Bill slightly crested, (carinated,) and red.

Le Calao Couronne male. _Le Vaill. Ois. d'Af._ _vol._ v. _p._ 117.

_pl._ 234.

Buceros coronatus, Coronated Hornbill. _Shaw in Gen. Zool._ 8. _p._ 35.

The bills of these birds present a more uncouth appearance than even those of the Toucans; many species having k.n.o.bs or excrescences which seem to grow out of the bill itself, and give a strange appearance to the bird. The whole tribe are natives only of the tropical parts of Africa and Asia; feeding on animal substances, either living or dead.

Le Vaillant discovered this bird in Caffraria; congregating in flocks of near 500, along with crows and vultures, over the remains of slaughtered elephants. It frequents forests, perching on high, and generally withered trees; it likewise destroys insects.

The specimen now before me is about the size of a magpie; the white collar only surrounds the back of the head, and is not well defined; the carinated process on the bill ends _abruptly_, and not _gradually_, as seen in Le Vaillant's figure; the margins are obtusely crenated, the tail even, and the two middle feathers entirely black.

Pl. 179

[Ill.u.s.tration]

MUSCIPETA labrosa,

_Red-lipped Flycatcher._

GENERIC CHARACTER.--See Pl. 116.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.