- Anchieta has forwarded specimens from the Cunene River (Humbe),
where it is called Sunguiandondo, and he has also met with it at
Huilla and Oapangombe in Mossamedes.
Of its habits, Mr. Andersson writes :—“ This Hornbillis frequently
seen searching for food upon the ground ; and the way in which it
swallows some kinds of food is peculiar, raising its head and pitching
the morsel into the air, receiving it again into its bill, and repeating
the process several times, perhaps with the object of softening the
food or reducing it to a pulp.”
Top of head grey ; forehead, cheeks, a line half-way down the
middle of back, some spots upon the shoulders, some of the inner
wing-feathers, more or less of the three outer tail-feathers, and all
the under parts, white ; outer wing-feathers black, with some white
markings; four inner tail-feathers and rump black ; iris light yellow;
bill deep red, elongated, curved, sharply keeled above, not casqued,
32 inches long. Total length, 19” ; tail, 7"; wing, 7" 6"'.
Some specimens appear, to have the cheeks grey. Mr. Gurney
writes of a female from the-Limpopo :—“ In the specimen sent the
cheeks were dark bluish grey, not white, as described by Mr. Layard
(B. S. Afr. p. 227.) I believe that both these variations of colour
occur in South-African examples of this bird, but whether they are
indicative of distinct races I am unable to say.” In a note to this
species in Mr. Andersson’s work, Mr. Gurney further writes :—“ Two
of these examples (a white cheeked bird from Objimbinque, and a
grey cheeked one from Ovampo Land,) are preserved in the collection
of Mr. R. B. Sharpe ; and as both of these were marked as males by
Mr. Andersson (no doubt from dissection,) and as both of them from
the character of their bills are evidently adult birds, it follows that
the difference is not due either to age or to sex. Professor Sundevall,
f r o m his remarks at p. 130 of the ‘ Ofversigt’ for 1850, appears to
consider the grey plumage of the cheeks to be especially characteristic
of what he considers the Caffrarian race, for which he has proposed
the specific name of e rufirostris.’ On the other hand, Mr.
Jules P. Yerreaux informs us that he considers that both birds are
of one and the same species, and that the pure white on the cheeks
and the parts adjacent is a nuptial dress annually assumed and lost
by a double seasonal change.”
Fig. Levaill. Ois. d’Afr. pi. 238.
123. T o c k u s n a s u t u s . African Grey Hornbill.
Buceros pcecilorkynchus, Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 226.
Buceros nasutus, id. t. c. p. 227.
This species does not appear to visit even the eastern districts of
the colony, and in the western portions it has never yet been found.
It has been stated by Dr. Hartlaub and Professor Schlegel to inhabit
Caffraria, and a specimen is recorded in the Leiden Museum . as
having been procured by Wahlberg in the “ Makkalis Mountains.”
In the Transvaal it is more frequent, and Mr. Ayres writes as follows:—“
This species is common along the Limpopo; and I have also
received it from Megaliesberg, a range of wooded mountains about
seven miles from Potchefstroom. Like T. flavirostms, this Hornbill
is a great fruit-eater, lives in small companies and has a dipping
flight. I was much surprised to find one of these birds, perched on
the top of a small tree, singing very prettily with the voice of a
Thrush. I could scarcely believe my ears, until I had watched the
bird for a considerable time: at last he flew away, and the woods
were silent.” Mr. P. Barratt has a specimen from Oliphants Nek,
near Rustenburg.
Mr. T. E. Buckley shot specimens in Bamangwato, and Dr. Exton
observed the species at Kanye in the Matabili country. He says:—
“ They are generally found in the early morning feeding on the
ground under trees. The stomachs of those I procured were filled
with berries, seeds, and insects (sand-wasps).” Dr. Kirk mentions
having seen the species in the Shire Yalley, but it appeared rather
rare in the Zambesi. Mr. Andersson give the following account of
i t :—“ This species does not occur in Great Namaqua Land, but is
found in Southern Damara Land, where, however, it is far from
common and excessively shy; in the northern parts of Damara
Land it is less shy and very common; and it is also to be met with
in the Lake-regions. It is seen in small families rarely exceeding
half a dozen individuals. It roosts on large trees if such be within
reach, generally returning nightly to a fixed roosting-place; it usually
perches upon trees about halfway up, and, unlike T. melanoleucus
and T. jlavirostris, rarely alights on the topmost boughs. In common
with the rest of the genus it appears to suffer very much from
the heat during the most trying season of the year, when it may be
found perched at noon in the shadiest part of the forest, gasping as