,/
Fam. BTJCER0TID2E.
1 1 6 . B ucorax carer. South African Ground Hornbill.
Professor Barboza du Bocage, following tbe idea of Professor
Schlegel, has separated the Ground-Hornbill of South Africa from
the other two species which inhabit Abyssinia and the west coast
of the continent. In this he is apparently quite justified, the different
shape of the casque being a good character.
The “ Brom-vogel,” as it is called from the droning cry which it
utters, is common on the Eastern frontier, where the birds associate
in large flocks and devour vast quantities of grubs and locusts. The
Pingoes seem to attach some superstitious veneration to them, and
object to their being shot in the neighbourhood of their dwellings,
lest they should lose their cattle by disease.
We are indebted to several correspondents for notes upon this
singular bird. From East London, Mr. T. 0. Rickard writes:—% I had
one alive for nearly two months; it ate rats, birds, snakes, rotten
eggs, &c, also dry mealies j the latter did not digest. It tossed up its
food, and caught it as it fell. They are said to breed in a hole in a
‘ Frantz’ on the Buffalo River: my informant says that he has seen
the eggs, which are large, and white. The Kaffirs have a superstition
that if one of these birds is killed, it will rain for a long time.
I am told that in time of drought, it is their custom to take one alive,
tie a stone to it, and then throw it into a ‘ vley ’ ; after this rain is
supposed to follow. They avoid using the water in which this
ceremony has been performed. When I had this one in my yard we
were getting a good deal of rain, and I often heard the Kaffirs blame
me for keeping the bird a prisoner. Kaffir name £ Insigees.’ ”
Mr. H. Bowker writes :—“ There are many superstitions connected
with the ‘ Brom-vogel ’, the bird is held sacred by the Kaffirs, and is
only killed in times of severe drought, when one is killed by order of
the ‘ rain doctor/ and its body thrown into a pool in a river. The
idea is, that the bird has so offensive a smell that it will ‘ make the
water sick/ and that the only way of getting rid of this, is to wash it
away to the sea, which can only be done by heavy rains, and flooding
of the river. The ground where they feed is considered good for cat-
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tie, and in settling in a new country, spots frequented by these birds
are chosen by the wealthy people. Should the birds, however, by
some chance fly over a cattle kraal, the kraal is moved dio some other
place. They are mostly found in groups of from 3 to 6, or 7, and build
their nests in hollow trees, or in the hollow formed by three or four
branches striking off, from the same spot; they roost in tall yellow
wood trees, and commence calling about daylight. I never saw one
eating carrion, as stated in your book, though I have frequently
seen them near the bones of dead cattle, picking up beetles and
worms; they will eat meat, mice, and small birds, and swallow them
by throwing them suddenly up into the air, and letting them drop
down the throat in falling. I once had a tame one, and noticed this
particularly. It is very weak on the wing, and when reqmred
by the f doctor/ the bird is caught by the men of a number of
kraals turning out at the same time, and a particular bird is followed
from one hill to another by those on the look out. After three or
four flights it can be run down and caught by a good runner.”
Mr. Ayres’ account of the species in Natal, though often referred
to by other writers, is so excellent that no work treating of South
African birds can omit it, and is therefore reproduced here in its
entirety from the Ibis for 1861, (p. 133):—“ In the stomach of the
male were snakes, beetles, and other insects. These birds are
gregarious and to be found here all the year round, but are not very
plentiful, generally three or four, sometimes more, being found together.
They are very fond of hunting for their food on ground
from which the grass has been burnt; with their strong bills they
peck up the hard ground, and turn over lumps in search of insects,
making the dust fly again; having found an insect or other food, they
take it up, and giving their head a toss, the bill pointing upward,
appear to let the food roll down their throat. They also kill large
snakes in the following manner, v i z . O n discovering a snake, three
or four of the birds advance sideways towards it with their wings
stretched out, and with their quills flap at and irritate the snake till
he seizes them by the wing-feathers, when they immediately all close
round and give him violent pecks with their long and sharp bills,
quickly withdrawing again when the snake leaves his hold. This
they repeat till the snake is dead. If the reptile advances on them
they place both wings in front of them, completely covering their