The HornhilVs Domestic Arrangements. 97 



at the time of our visit, so that we were unable to 



observe the remarkable habits, shared, I believe, by all 



the hornbills, of imprisoning the female in the hole of 



the tree in which the eggs are laid. When the female 



begins to sit the male proceeds to plaster up the entrance 



to the nest with a gummy secretion, and his mate is no 



unwilling party to this arrangement, for she actually 



helps him in the work. It is probable that while she 



is sitting she loses all her wing feathers and is thus 



incapable of flight. If such be the case her prison may 



well become a fortress, where she is safe from the attacks 



of monitors and other enemies. A crack is left open 



in the plaster door and through this the male feeds the 



female and the young. Even more remarkable than the 



imprisonment of the female is the fact discovered by the 



late A. D. Bartlett, that at a certain period of the year 



hornbills cast the lining of their gizzards. The lining 



is formed by a secretion, and takes the shape of a bag, 



the mouth of which is closely folded. When cast up the 



bag contains the fruit which the bird has been eating, 



and it is supposed that this process enables the male to 



provide his mate more easily with food. 



The pursuit of the hornbill had led me far from the 



camp, and the keenness of the chase had made me 



oblivious to a dark heavy cloud on the horizon. I knew 



g2 



