548 C. Hose — Nesting-habits, ^c, o/Buceros rhinoceros. 



&c., the pellets being enclosed each in a skin of rubber-like 

 consistency. While feeding the female, the male clings to 

 the bark of the tree, or sits on a branch if conveniently near, 

 and jerks these pellets into the gaping beak of the hen, two 

 to four pellets forming a meal. During mastication (for it 

 is a mistake to suppose that the Hornbills always bolt their 

 food entire) some fragments of the pellet fall to the ground ; 

 any seeds which these fragments may contain take root, 

 germinate, and sprout, and the natives can approximately 

 judge of the date of incubation by the age of the seedlings. 

 When these are four-leaved, the eggs have been hatched out 

 for two or three weeks. At this stage, though not always so 

 early, the mother-bird leaves the nest, breaking down the 

 gluey substance with her beak to effect an exit ; having left 

 the nest, the aperture through which she left is carefully 

 closed up again, leaving the slit as before, and now both 

 male and female devote their energies to feeding the young 

 birds, who in course of time follow the example of their 

 mother and leave their place of imprisonment. It is more 

 than probable that this gluing up first of the mother-bird 

 and her eggs and afterwards o£ the nestlings alone is solely a 

 means of protection against predaceous carnivora {Para- 

 doxurus, Hemigale, Arctogale, Arctictis, &c,) ; the fact that 

 I have shot a specimen of Hemigale hardwickei in close 

 proximity to a Hornbill's nest lends support to this view. 

 One, two, or three eggs are laid : the egg of B. rhinoceros 

 is white closely mottled with brown, giving a pepper-and-salt 

 appearance ; that of Anthracoceros malayanus is white, a 

 specimen in my possession measuring 47 mm. x 32 mm. 

 The nesting-season is during May and June, and it is note- 

 worthy that the birds, if undisturbed, return to the same 

 nesting-place every year. The saplings at the foot of the 

 tree, sprung from seeds dropped in the first year of pairing, 

 afford signs to the natives of the number of years during 

 which the tree has been occupied. If dui'ing pairing or 

 incubation the female, or female and young, are destroyed, 

 the male takes to himself another mate and repairs to the 

 same nesting-place ; if, however, the male and female are 



