254 



Dr. Murie's report was as follows: "On exami- 

 nation of the specimen I fonnd, as was at first sug- 

 gested in joke, that the bag did absolutely consist of 

 nothing else than the thickened semichondrified lining 

 membrane of the gizzard. All the puckerings and in- 

 dentations were more or less exactly represented, 

 though less sharp in outline than is ordinarily the 

 case. The mucous surface of the inner wall of the 

 bag was slimy, otherwise perfectly identical with the 

 same structure in a healthy bird. The surface out- 

 side, on that which might be said to be the submucous 

 tissue, was moist, comparativeh^ uninjured, and free 

 from any effusion or disease. The rim of the mouth 

 of the bag was irregular and shreddy, and thinned 

 away at its free edge. The soft egg-like bodies con- 

 tained within this (so to speak) cast up sac proved to 

 be seven or eight discoloured grapes ; or they might 

 be, so far as appearance went, raisins. None of these 

 had undergone the process of digestion, but, from 

 their sodden aspect, I believe had been slightly acted 

 on by the gastric juice. Positive of the nature of this 

 queer rejected pellet, there follows the still more ex- 

 traordinary circumstance that the Hornbill should live 

 and feed afterwards, seemingly not much affected by 

 the loss of the inner coat of its stomach. Had I not 

 seen and examined the objects I would scarcely have 

 credited the facts." 



Mr. Charles Hose gives the following account in 

 " Wonders of the Bird World " of the taking of a 

 mother Hornbill and her young one in Sarawak : — 



" Our attention was first attracted to a quantity of 

 excrement at the base of a large tree, and looking to 

 see where it came from we discovered a hole in the 



