. The royal natural history. aland. Itis found singly or in pairs, and, being a comparatively fearless bird, is easily killed,,especiallj^ during the heat of the day, when it invariably perches on or near thetop of a lofty tree (where such are to be found), and will remain for hours in thissituation, keeping up, with short intermissions, a kind of subdued chattering noteof toe toe tde tocke tocke tocke toe, in a tone not unlike the quick yelping of young- HORNBILLS. 67 puppies, and accompanied at intervals by a flapping and raising of the wingsand an alternate lowering and erecting of the head
. The royal natural history. aland. Itis found singly or in pairs, and, being a comparatively fearless bird, is easily killed,,especiallj^ during the heat of the day, when it invariably perches on or near thetop of a lofty tree (where such are to be found), and will remain for hours in thissituation, keeping up, with short intermissions, a kind of subdued chattering noteof toe toe tde tocke tocke tocke toe, in a tone not unlike the quick yelping of young- HORNBILLS. 67 puppies, and accompanied at intervals by a flapping and raising of the wingsand an alternate lowering and erecting of the head. The yellow-billed hornbill isabout 21 inches in length, and has a tail about 9 inches long. It is easily dis-tinguished by its yellow bill and by the feathers on the chest being white edgedwith black. It is found all over South Africa. Another species of Lophoceros,namely, the South-African grey hornbill {L. epirhinus), is easily recognised by thepale buff line down the centre of the back, and by having white shafts to the. >: ^?.) ^ -^^^^ YELLOW-BILLED HOUNBILL. central pair of tail-feathers; the head and neck are grey, with a broad whiteeyebrow; the beak is brown, and the quills are tipped with white; the undersurface of the body is white, with the chest brownish grey. Length, 20 inches;wing, 9 inches. This species, Mr. Ayres says, is a great fruit-eater, and lives insmall companies. He states that he was once much surprised to hear oneof these birds, perched on the top of a small tree, singing very prettily with thevoice of a thrush. I could scarcely believe my ears, he observes, until I hadwatched the bird for a considerable time; at last hr flew away, and the woods were 68 PICARIAN BIRDS. silent. Mr. Andersson says that he has found this hoi-nljill in Damaraland andthe lake-regions of South-Western Africa. It is seen in small families, rarely-exceeding six in number. In common with the rest of the genus it appears tosuffer very much from the heat during the most tryin
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booksubjectzoology
