PREFACE 



I went to Uganda at the invitation of the East African High Com- 

 mission to carry on virus research as a visiting scientist at the Virus 

 Research Institute, Entebbe, where I worked from August 1954 until 

 mid-May 1955. My ornithological observations were made as an ama- 

 teur in the early mornings and evenings, and on weekends. It had been 

 my hope to study some particular field problem in addition to making 

 a general acquaintance with African bird life. The nature of the prob- 

 lem was determined soon after my arrival. In my bird notes, black- 

 and-white casqued hornbills [Bycanistes suhcylindricits (Sclater)] 

 soon took up more pages than any other species. They came to our 

 garden frequently. In addition, a pair of them roosted and carried 

 on courtship activities in a tree above our house. When I discovered 

 a concentration of hornbill nests in the Mpanga Research Forest, it 

 was apparent that I had an unusual opportunity to study the natural 

 history of casqued hornbills. Present studies did not begin until many 

 females were already walled in. A few pairs of late-nesting hornbills, 

 however, enabled me to witness the beginning stages of nesting ac- 

 tivity. Observations on 16 nesting pairs gave, in the aggregate, a 

 rounded picture of breeding and other habits of these birds. As far 

 as I am aware, this is the first detailed description published on the 

 natural history of Bycanistes subcylindricus. Moreau (1936), how- 

 ever, has written of a related species, Bycanistes brevis. His account 

 is based on the histories of two nests that he observed in Usambara, 

 Tanganyika. 



Acknozvledginents. — The writer is grateful to the following indi- 

 viduals for help contributed in various ways : Dr. A, J. Haddow, 

 director, and Dr. W. H. R. Lumsden, assistant director, of the East 

 African Virus Research Institute ; H, C. Dawkins, ecologist, Uganda 

 Forest Department ; Charles Sandison, curator. Botanical Gardens, 

 Entebbe, for identification of fruits and seeds ; Dr. V. G. L. Van 

 Someren, Ngong, Kenya, for identifying insect remains ; and Dr. 

 Herbert Friedmann, curator, division of birds, U. S. National Mu- 

 seum, for aid and encouragement in preparation of the manuscript. 

 Two sketches of hornbills by their nests were contributed by my wife, 

 Jane Kilham, The avian scientific nomenclature used is that given by 

 Mackworth-Praed and Grant, 1952. 



L.K. 



