BU'PHAGA (Buphagus, Brisson), a genus of Birds, whose form in some points resembles that of the /If erulidce (Blackbirds), while its habits approach those of the Sturnithe (Starlings); but the form not withstanding presents such strong points of diference that most ornithologists agree in viewing the type of a family, Baphagidce, of which at present it is the only genus. The following is Temrninck's generic tharacter strong, large, obtuse, nearly quadrangular ; lower mandible stronger than the upper ; both swollen towards the point. Nostrils basal, oval, half closed by a vaulted membrane. Feet moderate ; shank (tarsus) longer than the middle toe ; three toes before, one behind, the lateral toes equal, the external toe con joined at the base, the internal one divided; claws hooked, compressed. Wings moderate.; the first quill very short, the second nearly the length of the third, which is the longest.
The species live principally upon those parasitic insects the larva) (maggots) of which are batched under the skin of some of the larger ruminants and birds, a mode of life which is followed by some of the Crowe (Corvidce) and the Pastors. The quadrupeds on whom the Buphaga waits are principally those of the ox-family, the antelopes, Ad the camels, and generally the other ruminants both wild and tame. Fixed on the backs of these by his cramp-irons of claws the Beef-Eater, as he baa been called by the English, and Pique-Bceuf by the French, digs and squeezes out with his forecepe of a beak the larva that lies festering under the tough hide of the quadruped.
Le Valliant gives the following account of the habits of Buphaga Africana, which is distributed through Southern Africa, and found also at Senegal :—The bill of the Pique-Bceuf is fashioned as a pair of solid pincers to facilitate the raising up out of the hides of quadrupeds the larvae of the gadflies, which are there deposited end nourished : the species therefore anxiously seeks out the herds of oxen, of buffa loes, of antelopes—of all the quadrupeds, in short, upon which these gadflies deposit their eggs. It is while steadied by a strong gripe of the claws in the tough and hairy hide of these animals that with strong blows of the bill and powerful squeezes of the akin at the place where the bird perceives an elevation which indicates the presence of a maggot, he extracts it with effort. The animals accustomed to the treatment bear with the birds complacently, and apparently perceivo the service which they render to them in freeing them from these true parasites, which live at the expense of their proper substance.
The Piqne-Bccufs however are not the only birds that perch upon the backs of quadrupeds and large birds, for many other omnivorous species have the same habit ; but these last content themselves with only taking away the parasites which are attached to the skin of those animals, not having in their bills the necessary strength for extirpating the larva which are lodged beneath it; an office which the Corrus albicollia (Le Corbivau) executes RA well as the Pique-Bceufs.
The Pique-Ihrufa are generally seen in company, but they never fly in large flocks. Le Valliant rarely saw more than six or eight in the same herd of buffaloes or antelopes; and \L !tappet' never observed them except in bands consisting but of few individuals about the camels of his caravan. They are very wild and difficult of approach, so that there is no chance of obtaining either the one or the other species, except by hiding behind an ox or a camel and driving it gently in the manner of a stalking horse towards those beasts on whose backs the birds are perched. When sufficiently near the fowler shows himself, and brings them down while on the wing. Besides the lame of the gadfly, these birds cat the ticks when they are full of blood, and all sorts of insects generally.
B. crythrorAyncha was received by Tennninck some years since from the Cape of Good Hope, whither it bad been brought with a number of other birds from Madagascar. Temminck says it is dis tinguished from its congener by a smaller and leas powerful bill, by the red colour of that organ (whence it is called in French Pique Bmuf, Bec-Corail—Beef-Eater, Coral-13i11)—by the more sombre tints of its upper plumage, and, finally, by its smaller proportions. The upper parts, head, and throat in the adult are ash-brown, glazed as it were with bluish ; the lower parts are yellowish-rust or dark Isabella colour. The total length is 7 inches, about one-third less than B. Africana, whose bill is yellow, and whose geographical distribu tion seems to lie in the southern districts and on the western coasts— parts of the country to which Temminck expresses his belief that B. erythrorhyncha does not penetrate. Temminck, from whose work our figure and description are taken, says that no particulars as to the structure of the nest, its position, or the period of incubation, are yet known.