THE WHALE-HEADED STORK, OR SHOE-BEAK (Balæniceps rex).
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THE SAVAKU, OR BOAT-BILL.
The SAVAKU, or BOAT-BILL (Cancroma cochlearia), has a compact body, a comparatively short strong neck, thick flat-crowned head, and an extremely broad bill, which is longer than the head, much depressed and dilated towards its middle. The culmen is prominently keeled with a deep lateral groove, extending to the tip, which is acutely hooked; the nostrils are placed in the lateral groove on the surface of the bill, their openings are longitudinal, and partly covered by a membrane. The moderate-sized, powerful wings have the fourth quill longer than the rest; the short broad tail is composed of twelve feathers, and the long slender legs are clothed almost to the knee; the soft streaming feathers upon the nape form a plume; the cheek-stripes and a portion of the throat are bare; the broad cheeks and fore part of the neck are white; the lower neck and breast yellowish white; the back is light grey; the back of the neck and belly are reddish brown, with black sides; the quills and tail-feathers are whitish grey; the brown eye is edged with grey, and the brown beak has a yellow margin to the lower mandible; the foot is of a yellowish shade. The male of this species is twenty-two inches long and thirty-eight across; the wing measures eleven inches and a half, and the tail four inches and a half; the female is somewhat smaller than her mate; the plumage of the young is at first entirely reddish brown, with the back of a deeper colour than the under side.
This bird is an inhabitant of Brazil, where it frequents the reed or bush covered banks of streams, and lives either solitary, or, during the breeding season, in pairs, keeping principally amongst the thickest trees or bushes, and hopping nimbly from branch to branch. Water insects of all kinds probably afford it the principal means of subsistence, although the stomachs of specimens examined by the Prince von Wied only contained worms. We are unacquainted with the voice and other habits of this strange bird, except that it occasionally produces a clapping sound with its bill, after the manner of a Stork. The eggs of the Savaku are oval in shape, pure white, and lustreless.
THE HAMMER-HEAD, OR SHADOW-BIRD.
The HAMMER-HEAD, or SHADOW-BIRD (Scopus umbretta), is an African species, and represents a family possessing a compact, almost conical body, short thick neck, comparatively large head, and broad, much-rounded wing, in which the third quill is longer than the rest, and a medium-sized tail, composed of twelve feathers. The high beak is longer than the head, straight, compressed at its sides, and slightly bent at its tip. The feet are moderate, with toes but slightly connected. The head is decorated with a bushy crest, and the thick streaming plumage is of an almost uniform umber-brown, with the under side of a lighter shade. The quills are glossy and darker than the back, and the tail-feathers are enlivened by a broad, purplish brown band at their extremities, and narrow irregular lines of the same at their roots. The eye is dark brown, the beak black, and the foot either black or blackish[Pg 63] brown. The length is twenty and the breadth forty inches; the wing measures eleven inches and two-thirds and the tail six inches. The female differs in no respect from her mate.
This remarkable species inhabits all the central and southern portions of the African continent, including Madagascar; and is also met with in Southern Arabia, but is nowhere numerous.
"The Hammer-heads," says Layard "are strange, weird birds, frequenting ponds, marshes, rivers, and lakes, flitting about with great activity in the dusk of the evening, and preying upon frogs, small fish, and similar fare. At times, when two or three are feeding in the same small pool, they execute a singular dance, skipping round one another, opening and closing their wings, and performing strange antics. They breed on trees and rocky ledges, forming a huge structure of sticks, some of them of considerable thickness. These nests are so solid that they will bear the weight of a large heavy man on the domed roof without collapsing. The entrance is a small hole, generally placed on the most inaccessible side. The pure white eggs are from three to five in number. On my late friend Jackson's farm, at Nels Poort, there is a singular rocky glen between two hills. In this spot a beautiful permanent spring, called 'Jackal's Fountain,' takes its rise. Of course, in consequence, there are a few wild almond and other trees; indeed, the place is a little oasis amid the barren mountains, and a favourite resort for hyænas, jackals, leopards, and other wild animals. On the ledges of the rocks in this secluded spot a colony of Hammer-heads have built for years. Some of the nests are quite inaccessible, whilst others can be reached with a little trouble. I counted six or eight within fifty yards, all exhibiting the same form and structure, and some of them containing at least a large cartload of sticks. About some that I visited I found brass and bone buttons, bits of crockery, bleached bones, &c. Mr. Jackson told me that if a 'tottie' lost his knife or tinder-box on the farm, or within some miles of the place, he made a point of examining these nests, and frequently with success; the occupants, like the Bower Bird of Australia, embellishing their dwellings with any glittering or bright-coloured thing they can pick up. In the karroo between Worcester and Robertson I saw a nest placed on the ground on the side of a trifling rise; it was at least three yards in length, by one and a half across, with a small entrance-hole at one end." From Jules Verreaux we learn that these remarkable structures contain three distinct chambers, the partitions of which are carefully formed, like the outer walls, of twigs and clay most artistically worked together, and entered by a hole just large enough to admit the body of the bird. Of these compartments the hindermost is the largest, and so raised as to remain dry should heavy rain penetrate the outer parts of the nest; so excellently, however, is the entrance constructed, that such accidents but rarely occur, or, if water should break through, are readily and at once repaired. The large back chamber is covered with a soft bed formed of various vegetable materials, for the reception of the eggs, which are hatched by the united attentions of both parents; the centre apartment serves as a pantry, and usually contains a goodly supply of provender; while the small outer compartment is employed as a guard-room, from which a strict watch is kept in case of approaching danger, the vigilant owner, according to Verreaux, lying flat on the ground as he reconnoitres, and keeping his head protruded through the entrance-hole. The young when first hatched are almost naked, with but a very slight development of greyish brown down. They grow slowly, and are tended with much affection by their parents, who feed them principally at early morning and evening.