Descriptive List of the Common Birds 



tail. The beak is nearly a foot in length, and 

 is rendered more conspicuous than it would 

 otherwise be by a structure known as a casque. 

 This is a horny excrescence nearly as large 

 as the bill, which causes the bird to look as 

 though it were wearing a hat, which it had 

 placed for a joke on its beak rather than its 

 head. The eye is red, and the upper lid is 

 fringed with eyelashes which add still further 

 to the oddity of the bird's appearance." 



The nesting habits of these birds are curious. 

 They nestle in holes in trees. When the eggs 

 are laid the hen goes into the hole, the en- 

 trance to which is plastered up by the cock 

 and hen until the orifice is only just large 

 enough to allow of the insertion of the beak. 

 Thus the hen remains a voluntary prisoner 

 until the young are ready to leave the nest, the 

 cock bringing food to her. 



The great majority of hornbills are confined 

 to the large forests, and so cannot be called 

 common birds. Two of the smaller species, 

 however, are more widely distributed. (Illus. 

 F. III., p. 140.) 



121. Lophoceros birostris : The Common 

 Grey Hornbill. (F. 1062), (J. 144), (IV, but 

 with the tail a foot long.) 

 165 



