228 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
underside of the wing—does not cover the bases of the quills. 
The feet are fairly large and stout, and formed like those of the 
Rollers. The nidification is extraordinary, and the accounts 
of it were long regarded as travellers’ fairy tales. At the 
breeding season, before the eggs are laid, the female is walled 
up in the hollow of a tree by means of a plaster formed of 
earth mixed with the bird’s droppings, or of the droppings 
alone. An opening is left, through which the male feeds her, 
and there she remains imprisoned, apparently until the young 
are fledged. The eggs when new laid are white, but, as 
may be imagined, they soon get discoloured as incubation 
proceeds. The young are naked when hatched. MHornbills 
feed largely on fruit, but also to some extent on small lizards, 
scorpions, insects, &e. They are frequently, but erroneously, 
called ‘* Toucans,” a name which applies to a family of large- 
billed birds of brilliant plumage, akin to the Barbets, and 
found only in South America. 
Rough Key to Ceylon Bucerotide. 
A.—Size large; length about 36; a compressed casque 
pointed in front. 
Anthracoceros coronatus (Malabar Pied Hornbill), 
B.—Size smaller ; length about 23; no casque. 
Lophoceros gingalensis (Ceylon Hornbill). 
ANTHRACOCEROS CORONATUS (Blanford, Vol. IIT., p. 144; 
Legge, p. 272). 
The Malabar Pied Hornbill. 
Description. —The head, neck, and upper parts with the wing 
and the middle pair of tail feathers are glossy greenish-black ; 
the remainder of the tail and the under parts from the breast 
downwards white. The primaries—with the exception of the 
first two quills, which are small—and the secondaries have 
broad white tips, and the primaries have whitish bases. 
The bill is large and curved, with serrated edges ; in adults 
it is surmounted by a large horny casque, which slopes back- 
ward over the crown, and in front runs into a pointed pro- 
jection overhanging its line of junction with the bill. The 
