THE AMERILAX MUSEUM JOUEXAL 



neighboring boughs or vines. ISTest- 

 pilfering monkey's, genets, or even 

 snakes would have difficulty in securing 

 a hold upon the surrounding smooth 

 bark. The male hornbill, when feeding 

 his charges, clings to the tree much as 

 woodpeckers do, using his tail as a sup- 

 port. 



In the big tree-hornbills, such as 

 Ceratogymna, the female, after court- 

 ship, enters the nest without collecting 

 any nest-building material and lays one 

 pure white egg directly upon the detri- 

 tus of decayed wood. The male then 

 undertakes the task of gathering soft 

 earth from the edge of one of the nu- 

 merous brooks, and, from a distance of 

 several hundred yards, carries it in his 

 bill to the nest. The beak hardly 

 seems a suitable instrument for cement- 

 ing this mixture of coarse sand and 

 clay, yet both parents use it with ad- 

 mirable success until the big hole is 

 narrowed to a mere fissure (about one 

 incli in width) sufficiently large to al- 

 low the insertion of food for the female 

 and young. The mixture, perhaps ren- 

 dered more plastic by the addition of 

 saliva, becomes very hard and. in spite 

 of a thickness of several inches, no 

 cracks are noticeable and perfect adhe- 

 sion to the bark is secured. The female 

 hornbill is evidently a willing prisoner 

 as she increases the thickness of the 

 plaster considerably by adding to the 

 inside excrement containing chitinous 

 particles of insects and seeds of forest 

 trees. Females of smaller species 

 (Lophoceros and Ortholoplnis) which 

 lay two or possibly three eggs, do not 

 give up their liberty until courtship is 

 ended and both or all three eggs have 

 been laid. 



Contrary to what has 1)een stated of 

 hornbills in general, the female of 

 Ceratogymna does not emerge from 

 confinement with a complete new set of 

 feathers. Only a few of the larger 

 quills are shed inside the nest, and from 

 our subsequent experience we found 

 that the process of molting is not al- 



ways completed during the breeding 

 period. Gradual molting of adults and 

 young may occur throughout the year, 

 and the nesting season does not seem 

 to be restricted to any particular time, 

 for only near the southern and north- 

 ern borders of the West African rain 

 forest are seasons well defined. 



The plump condition of the young, 

 and sometimes even of the female, 

 proves how great is the devotion of the 

 spouse, for hornbills as a rule are lean. 

 So zealous is this self-appointed pur- 

 veyor in the task of bringing food to his 

 charges that his continuous flights, in- 

 creasing with the growth of the young, 

 often invite destruction, for, to the 

 watchful native, they are the welcome 

 signal for looting the nest. It is not 

 only the hope of the roasted bodies that 

 furnishes the incentive, but superstition 

 puts a high price on the possession of 

 the bills of breeding hornbills, so that 

 the native seldom hesitates to spend a 

 day or two in climbing these enormous 

 trees, and he sometimes succeeds in 

 trapping the male birds as well as cap- 

 turing the females. 



When taken from their nests, horn- 

 bills bite savagely, but once tucked into 

 a basket, they hardly defend themselves. 

 The big bill,^ with the formidable look- 

 ing casque of the male, consisting 

 mainly of thin-walled cellular tissue, is 

 weak except for the sharp tip and the 

 serrated edges. Indeed, it is chiefly 

 ornamental for. in encounters, this 

 weapon is good only for snapping, as it 

 lacks the forceful thrust of a long neck 

 as in the heron. The birds are neither 

 bold nor aggressive in temper as their 

 feeding habits prove, for vegetable food 

 forms their main sustenance. We have 

 found in their stomachs the fruits of 

 eight different kinds of forest trees, to- 

 gether with the oily pulp of palm 



' There is a curious analogj' between the horn- 

 bills of the Old World and the toucans of the New : 

 both have big bills, both nest in hollow trees, in 

 both groups the young are born helpless and 

 naked, and in both the tail can be folded upon the 

 back. 



