s of rather large size, and distinguished
by the disproportionate forms of their beaks, which are often still
further remarkable for some kind of large prominence on the upper
mandible. The most conspicuous species is the _Buceros Rhinoceros_ of
Linnaeus, commonly called the Rhinoceros Bird.

[Illustration: The Rhinoceros Bird.]

Its general size is that of a Turkey, but with a much more slenderly
proportioned body. Its colour is black, with the tail white, crossed by
a black bar: the beak is of enormous size, of a lengthened, slightly
curved, and pointed shape, and on the upper mandible, towards the base,
is an extremely large process, equal in thickness to the bill itself,
and turning upwards and backwards in the form of a thick, sharp-pointed
horn, somewhat resembling the horn of the rhinoceros. The use of this
strange proboscis is by some supposed to be that of enabling the bird
more easily to tear out the entrails of its prey; but others affirm that
it is not of a predaceous nature, feeding only on vegetable substances.
This bird is principally found in the East Indian Islands. A remarkably
fine specimen was preserved in the Leverian Museum.

* * * * *

THE SKETCH-BOOK.

* * * * *

RECOLLECTIONS OF A WANDERER.

_A scene on the coast of Cornwall._

A short time before my departure from the hamlet of Landwithiel,[4] I
was awoke early one morning by the roaring of the wind in the huge old
chimney of my room--the whole tenement, indeed, occasionally shook as a
violent gust swept down the valley, tossing the branches of the stout
old tree before the door to and fro in a way that threatened at last to
level them with the dust. The very briny scent of the atmosphere
convinced me there was some sea running in the bay; and it was the more
unexpected as we had had no tokens of a storm for several days previous.
From the peninsular situation of this county, surrounded on almost every
side with the restless ocean and exposed to the wide sweep of the
Atlantic, it may be supposed that storms are of frequent occurrence. As
on the present occasion, they often come with little or no warning; and
the effects of a hurricane in the distant main, far outstripping the
wind, sometimes rolls with tremendous fury towards our western shores,
on which the sea is encroaching in every part.

[4] See "Recollections of a Wanderer," _Mirror_, Nos. 430-475.

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