Nesting Habits of the African Hornbill' 



Bv H E U 1'. K \i T L A N (i nnd 



A >I !•: S I'. (' II A I' I X 



Tl I !•; not ol'.-i |i;iir'>r A lVii-;in lioi-ii- 

 liills \v;is (lis(M)V('i'('(l ;lli(Hit lil- 

 tccn iiiilr> Miiitli(';i>t III' Mi'd jc in 

 till' i-ftlumnnr t I'lmk of a iii;mili,M> {Mn- 

 crulubiinii Pcircrrci ) . (Hic of ihr \\\()>[ 

 statoly t !•(■<•< (if 

 the C'oiiud fofots. 

 bv natives \vorkin,«i- 

 for llic Amorieaii 

 Musciinrs Congo 

 Expedition. Tlie 

 tree measured H<> 

 I'eet. almost tin' 

 avera,iie heiiiht. 

 and the entrance 

 to the nest, a pro- 

 jecting knot-hoh' 

 facing east, was 

 seventy-on(^ feet 

 above the ground. 

 ^Iaml)ao trees oc- 

 curred in great 

 numbers in this 

 locality, and as 

 this ])articular 

 tree had to be 

 felled, we were 

 forced to test the 

 hardness of the 

 r e d d i s h - b r o w n 

 wood, so highly 

 valued for con- 

 struction purposes 



because it is not easily attacked by tci- 

 mites. The plaster of mud that neai'l\ 

 filled the opening of the nest was care- 

 fully removed by the man who took oiil 

 the brooding bird. Then the ^IimI jc na- 

 tives, according to their custom, in- 

 stalled their frail fifteen-foot scatfold 

 for the woodcutters and finally, after 

 four hours of strenuous effort during 

 which the native axes had to be shar])- 

 ened continuallv, the "io-antic tree 



A frail scatfold of slender poles is bound to- 

 gether with lianas. Large trees are cut from 

 fifteen to twenty feet above the ground to avoid 

 the broad buttresses. The huge weathered col- 

 umns left standing contrast strangely and pic- 

 turesquely with the tiny native huts below — 

 especially in moonlight 



inirdeii.-. niei'e 

 his eounli'iiance 



cra.-lied (low II. .\ live-l'odt section con- 

 taining the nesting site was cut out and 

 fortunati'ly proved fairly hollow so that 

 the work ol' splitting and sawing into 

 |ioiiei'"s loa(U was considerably facili- 

 tated, yet fifteen 

 men were needed 

 I'oi' the transpor- 

 tation of the dif- 

 IVreiit |)ortions. 



.\rter two days 

 of liai'd work. made 

 ])articularly dis- 

 agreeable l)y ter- 

 rific rainstorms, 

 an incident oc- 

 curred which ex- 

 plained one of t he 

 reasons why the 

 natives value the 

 hornbill and its 

 nest. The chief 

 of the nearest vil- 

 lage, al)0ut ten 

 miles distant, paid 

 lis a visit, fearing 

 that we intended 

 to gather a niedi- 

 c-inc of remark- 

 able potency from 

 the nest, but, on 

 seeing the porters 

 shouldering their 

 )ieces of firewood,"" 

 immediately brighf- 

 eneij and with great delight he told 

 us that such trees, not hollow, liow- 

 e\('r. find of better wood, were growing 

 I'iglit neai- his village. If we would give 

 liiiii plenty of cloth, copper, brass rings, 

 liead>. and salt, he would have as many 

 cut a> he had lingers on his hand, and 

 his people would bring them to the 

 post; not e\('n the smallest branches 



' There is now installed on the second floor of the American Museum, a group of African hornbills 

 and their nest, the materials for the group having been collected during the Congo ?2.\pedition of 1909— 

 191.-). 



'1 



