The bills of these birds present a more uncouth appearance than even those of the Toucans; many species having knobs or excrescences which seem to grow out of the bill itself, and give a strange appearance to the bird. The whole tribe are natives only of the tropical parts of Africa and Asia; feeding on animal substances, either living or dead.
Le Vaillant discovered this bird in Caffraria; congregating in flocks of near 500, along with crows and vultures, over the remains of slaughtered elephants. It frequents forests, perching on high, and generally withered trees; it likewise destroys insects.
The specimen now before me is about the size of a magpie; the white collar only surrounds the back of the head, and is not well defined; the carinated process on the bill ends abruptly, and not gradually, as seen in Le Vaillant's figure; the margins are obtusely crenated, the tail even, and the two middle feathers entirely black.
