The TUKANA (_Ramphastus Temminckii_) has the feathers in the fore part of
the throat of a bright yellow, edged with a paler shade. The hinder parts
of the body are red, and the breast is adorned by a red line. The beak is
glossy black, with a broad light yellow streak towards its base; the eye
is blueish, the bare eye-ring deep red, and the foot lead-grey. The length
of this species is eighteen inches and a half, and its breadth twenty-one
inches. The wing measures seven inches, and the tail six inches and a
half. The Tukana is an inhabitant of the forests on the coast of Brazil.
* * * * *
The HORNBILLS PROPER (_Bucerotes_) are at once recognisable by the
remarkable horn-like protuberance that in many species rises at the
base of the very long, thick, and more or less curved beak. Their body
is slender, the neck moderately long, and head comparatively small; the
tail, composed of ten feathers, is of medium size, or very long; the wings
short, and very decidedly rounded, the tarsus short and the toes slender.
In many species the throat and region of the eye are bare, and the eyelid
furnished with well-developed eyelashes.
These birds inhabit the Eastern Hemisphere, and are especially numerous
in some parts of Asia and Africa. Dense woods and forests are their
favourite resorts, and where these are to be met with they often live at
an altitude of ten thousand feet above the level of the sea; only a few of
the smaller species occasionally frequent shrubs or bushes. Lesson tells
us that certain species devour nutmegs, from which their flesh acquires
a most appetising flavour. Some writers inform us that they will consume
carrion, and when in confinement have been known to swallow rats and
mice whole, after bruising their bodies with their powerful mandibles.
The Hornbills associate in flocks, which frequent woods and forests, and
perch on the loftiest trees. We learn from the naturalist above quoted
that the noise produced by a party of these birds when passing through
the air is very alarming to those who are unaware that the strange sound
that accompanies their movements is produced by the clattering of their
huge mandibles, and the utterance of a loud croak; these discordant sounds
bearing no distant resemblance to one of those sudden and violent winds
which often come on unexpectedly in tropical climates. Their voice may
be described as the blast of a bugle, combined with the sudden hiss of
an exploding sky-rocket; they seem to utter these calls periodically,
without any obvious reason, as if to relieve the monotony of their still
and melancholy lives. Major Denham tells us that an Abyssinian species
lives upon insects, fish, and snakes, and appears to display an especial
instinct in finding the latter. The Hornbill discovers their vicinity
while they are yet underground, digs on the spot, destroys the nest, and
feeds on the venomous inhabitant and its eggs. "The first time I saw a
Hornbill's nest," says Dr. Livingstone, speaking of another species,
"was at Kolsberg, when I had gone to a forest for some timber. Standing
by a tree, a native looked behind me, and exclaimed, 'There is the nest
of a Korwé!' I now saw a slit only about half an inch wide, and three
or four inches long, in a slight hollow of the tree. Thinking the word
Korwé denoted some small animal, I waited with interest to see what he
would extract. He broke the clay which surrounded the slit, put in his
arm, and pulled out a Tockas, or Red-breasted Hornbill, which he killed.
He informed me that when the female enters her nest, she submits to real
confinement; the male plasters up the entrance, leaving only a narrow
slit, that exactly suits the form of his beak, by which to feed his mate.
The female makes the nest of her own feathers, lays her eggs, hatches
them, and remains with the young till they are fully fledged. During all
this time, which is stated to be two or three months, the male continues
to feed her and the young family. The prisoner generally becomes fat, and
is esteemed a very dainty morsel by the natives, while the poor slave of a
husband gets so lean that, on the sudden lowering of the temperature that
often occurs after a fall of rain, he is benumbed and dies."
[Illustration: THE TOK (_Rhynchaceros erythrorhynchus_).]
Dr. Livingstone also gives the following interesting anecdote illustrative
of the affection of these birds to their mates:--"Near sunset, on the 25th
of August" (he writes from Dakanamoio Island), "we saw an immense flock of
the largest species of Hornbills (_Buceros cristatus_) come here to roost
on the great trees which skirt the edge of the cliff; they leave early in
the morning, often before sunrise, for their feeding-places, coming and
going in pairs. They are evidently of a loving disposition, and strongly
attached to each other, the male always nestling close beside his mate. A
fine male fell to the ground from fear at the report of Dr. Kirk's gun; it
was caught and kept on board. The female did not fly off in the mornings
to feed with the others, but flew round the ship, anxiously trying, by her
plaintive calls, to induce her beloved one to follow her. She came again
in the evenings to repeat the invitation; the poor disconsolate captive
refused to eat, and in five days died of grief because he could not have
her company. No internal injury could be detected after death."
* * * * *
The SMOOTH-BEAKED HORNBILLS (_Rhynchaceros_) are the smallest
members of this extensive group. In these birds the beak, which is
comparatively small, has both mandibles curved, and the margins more
or less denticulated; the feet are short and weak; the wings, in which
the fourth or fifth quill is the longest, are of medium size, and the
slightly-rounded tail of moderate length.