38 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I3I 



equally well to Bycanistes siibcylindricus. I have quoted a number of 

 these verbatim. 



(a) Food. The crowned hornbill's handling of larger prey is the 

 same as for Bycanistes. Speaking of a grasshopper, Ranger writes 

 "the hornbill . . . subjects the creature to prolonged chewing and 

 pulping between the mandibles before swallowing, turning it about 

 and tossing it to secure new holds. . . ." Chameleons and nestling 

 birds are treated in the same manner. Among insects taken by 

 crowned hornbills, those as diverse as winged termites, long-horned 

 beetles (cerambycids) and, curiously enough, mantid G:gg cases were 

 all fed on by Bycanistes. After feeding, cleaning "is performed by 

 scraping and wiping the outside of the bill against a branch." 



(b) Roosts. The crowned hornbill has roosting sites which are 

 used in rotation. Each member of the family, however, has its own 

 private perch. The two casqued hornbills in our garden always used 

 the same individual perch each night. Like Bycanistes, the crowned 

 hornbill is not an early riser. The birds stretch and make grufif utter- 

 ances to each other for some time in the morning before leaving their 

 roosts. 



(c) Play and agility. The following odd traits are also true of 

 casqued hornbills. Ranger wrote that the crowned hornbill reveals 

 "its dexterity when by diving it recovers an object that falls from its 

 bill before it reaches the ground." Speaking of a captive bird he 

 w-rites that "Conkie was adept at catching objects cast at her over 

 intervals of many yards." The bill whacking of male casqued horn- 

 bills was a characteristic sound in the forest. Ranger wrote as follows 

 of the crowned hornbill : "The meaning of the exaggerated scraping 

 of the bill against a branch, indulged in more particularly by the male, 

 has not become apparent." 



(d) Basking. "The foliage bath is followed by basking, advantage 

 being taken of the sun's appearance in a clouded sky, but basking is 

 independent in purpose. The body with wings extended is relaxed and 

 spread limply upon branch or foliage, the head and neck upturned. 

 Conkie assumed the most limp, lifeless, unbirdlike attitudes, neck 

 curled with throat uppermost, eyes obscured by the relaxed third 

 eyelid." Such postures are the ones assumed by my pet hornbill, Zika. 

 It is not a matter of drying her plumage but love of sunshine for its 

 own sake. As soon as the sun comes from behind a cloud, whether 

 she is indoors by a window or outside, Zika assumes the grotesque 

 attitudes so well described by Ranger. 



(e) Courtship. In describing breeding habits of Bycanistes, I have 

 included various activities under a heading of courtship and main- 



