THE TURKEY 87 



to be found the most immoral cuckoos as well as those 

 most virtuous of birds, the hornbills. The hornbills 

 inhabit both Africa and India, and have beaks almost 

 as large, relatively, as those of the toucans, and much more 

 hard and dense in structure. The hornbill is a large bird, 

 and makes its nest in a hollow tree, and when the female 

 has taken up her station within it, her thoughtful mate 

 forthwith proceeds to imprison her, closing up the mouth 

 of her retreat by means of a partition of mud. The kind- 

 ness of this action may at first seem questionable, but it is 

 not really so. In the first place the husband is careful 

 to leave a small aperture in the partition, of which aper- 

 ture he afterward makes a most exemplary use. Leaving 

 his wife to pursue uninterruptedly her maternal duties 

 he forthwith devotes himself most zealously to her support, 

 wandering almost incessantly about in search of food, and 

 returning to her again and again to minister to her needs, 

 and to feed her through the small opening left for that 

 purpose. So great is his devotion to this conjugal duty 

 that by the time his progeny come forth from their 

 enclosure, their sire may have reduced himself to the 

 most sorry plight, sometimes even falling a victim to the 

 exhaustion brought on by his devotion to the needs of 

 his nesting spouse. 



But to return once more to the turkey, it may be said, 

 with the other members of the order of gallinaceous 

 birds, to occupy a medium position in the whole class. 

 Neither in structure nor in habit does its order show 

 extreme peculiarities, save and except the tail of the 

 peacock, the wings of the argus pheasant, and the excep- 

 tional egg-laying habits of the mound builders. In its 

 own order, however, the turkey may claim a distinguished 

 place from its utility, its size, and the gorgeous beauty 

 of the ocellated or Honduras species. 



