94 Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton on 



with Professor Llo}^^ Morgan's conclusion tliat^ so far as he 

 had tested them, birds did not seem to know by inherited 

 instinct what was suitable for food and what was not. 



In reducing their harder food to an edible condition my 

 Hornbills mostly simply crush it between the points of their 

 mandibles. But a very bulky object, such as a very large 

 rat, is made the more easily swallowable by being laid on 

 the ground and tlien vigorously pounded with the point of 

 the bill. Or rather its points. For I have noticed that 

 whether in pounding prey or in digging holes the bill tends, 

 Crateropiis-Vike, to be held slightly open, even at the point. 

 It is always open further back, though vastly less, of course, 

 than in Anastonius. Mr. Gronvold shows this opening clearly 

 in his figure in the 'Fauna of S. Africa' (vol. iii. p. 103), 

 but, if my birds are typical, he might perhaps have accen- 

 tuated it even more. The Hornbills are at this moment 

 roosting on the roof, and, in spite of my lower position, I 

 see quite a broad line of light separating their mandibles, 

 excepting at the extreme base and tip. In Biddy the space 

 ^measured) is a fifth of an inch in width, in Pat a quarter. 

 Two other small points of the kind may perhaps be just 

 worth touching on : (1) it is mainly, but not entirely, the 

 hind toe the basal three-fourths of which are commonly 

 raised from the ground so as to give the foot the arched 

 appearance so well described by Mr. Sclater (the basal joint 

 of the other toes is often raised as well) ; and (2) the eye is 

 always wide open and well rounded^ and the expression, in 

 consequence, wide-awake, good-temiiered, and very intelli- 

 gent — never sleepy, "gorged," orvulturine. The wonderful 

 broadened eyelashes, heavy and black, are a very prominent 

 feature. 



Like most other insectivorous and carnivorous birds that 

 I have kept, the Hornbills reguhirly bring up pellets con- 

 taining the undigested portions of their food. Until they 

 became difficult to find, owing, 1 think, to the rats discover- 

 in <>• them, I used to collect these pellets, and I hope that it 

 may be possil)le some day to work out their contents in 

 detail. One. perfectly typical I should say, that is before 



