All Rights Reserved. December, 1919. 



BIRD NOTES: 



_ — THE 



JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB. 



The Plicated Hornbill. 

 ( Rylidoceros plicatus.) 



Bv Wesley T. Page, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. 



This is one of a nnniber of rare species placed on deposit 

 at tlie Zoo by Lord Tavistock, and our member, Mrs. A. M. 

 Cook. F.Z.S.. has kindly made a study of it, which forms the 

 ])]ate accompanyint^' these notes. 



This species has very variant head and neck plumage 

 e.g. dark-chestnut, rufous-buff, to buff. The individual at the 

 Zoo has these parts buff, but in this specimen it may, perhaps 

 only be a feature of juvenile plumage. 



In a state of riature the arboreal or tree-haunting 

 Hornbills subsist largely on fruit, supplementing this with any 

 small mammal they can capture. They are small drinkers 

 and sliow very little inclination to bathe, though I have seen 

 them standing in a large dish of water, but I never saw them 

 splash about therein, nor yet sprinkle their plumage by means 

 of their huge bills. 



Their movements are certainly not swan-like; they 

 progress by a series of ungainly hops, whether on the ground 

 or the branches of trees. Their flight is heavy and noisy. 



Some of the species have a grotesque sort of beauty, and 

 are very handsome birds. They soon become tame and 

 steady. They feed in a strange and interesting manner, pre- 

 ferring their food in small lumps or balls, which they seize by 

 the tip of the bill, tlien o]jen their bill, at the same time giving 

 the dainty morsel a downward jerk into their capacious throats. 

 .\t other times they will toss their food into the air, and with 



