The Hargreaves Hornbill

Antracoceros Hargreavesia

John Jackson Stock drew this fantastic male hornbill in about 1850. At the time it was already noted that there were very few hornbills on Tamba- Tamba.
Caetano do Tristao humorously named the island Tome- Tome in reference to the mournful honking call of the hornbill.
Three factors led to the extinction of this noble bird.
1- Its meat was exceptionally good.
2- During the Imperial era there was a growing export market for its feathers.
3- Deforestation of the interior.

By the time that Jefferson Stock was writing an article for the Royal Geographical Society on the work of H. H. Hargreaves in 1895 he noted:
It is many a year since anyone observed even a single Horn Bill on Tamba- Tamba...