XESTIXa lIAniTS OF Till-: AfJUCAX JlUhWJULL 



nuts, wliicli are often swallowed with 

 their seetls. A great variety of hard- 

 shelled insects are sometimes taken 

 in flight, and some caterpillars whieh 

 occur on the leaves in great numbers 

 are eagerly sought, r.nnd crabs are 

 taken occasionally, and in rare cases, 

 as other species proved, a lizard or a 

 shrew completes their diet. 



To the African native, l)irds and 

 beasts are invested with properties 

 widely different from those known to 

 science, but quite as interesting. Those 

 attributed to the hornbills are as fan- 

 tastic as the appearance of the bird 

 itself. The Medje, ^Mangbetu, and 

 Azande firmly believe that a man who 

 wears on his neck the l)eak of a breed- 

 ing hornbill can be sure of the afTection 

 of his wife, and the younger, newly- 

 married men especially seem to be 

 desirous of pinning love to their hearts 

 in this fashion. Again, the huge beaks 

 of nearly all species of hornbills are 

 fastened to the waists of tiny children 

 as a cure for malnutrition, for the 

 mothers of these youngsters know that 

 young hornbills are well fed, and so 

 they hope to secure a charm which will 

 fatten their own emaciated little ones. 

 Often, however, a less kindly quality 

 enters into the superstition, and the 

 bird is even supposed to aid in gaining 

 revenge of a certain kind. A disillu- 

 sioned Azande husband may roam the 

 forest in search of a hornbill's nest 

 merely to collect some of the pellets of 

 excrement, for if he throws the dirt 

 actually taken from the hornbill's se- 

 cure home, at his unruly wife, she will 

 wander forever without finding another 

 husband, a Sfreat dissrace in a laud 



where the umnari'icd woman is consid- 

 ered an outcast. 



Iliirnliill> li,'i\c cNcn been made the 

 toicni (if I lie \\';iK;ili tribe living along 

 thr llui'i iind Annvinii rivers. Tliey 

 hold the hirgc black-and-white species, 

 Bi/ainislcs nihotllildlis. in greater rev- 

 erence tlian tlicii- own people, for as 

 cannibals tbcy migbt not spare rela- 

 tives, but no one would dare eat this or 

 any other hoi-nbill. 



Wabali men arc proud of their tribal 

 marks, a series of crescent-shaped scars 

 on breast and abdomen, readily distin- 

 gui.shing them from their neighbors, a 

 vital factor in the thick of battle or 

 other eii(i»nntcr when they fight for 

 each other <»r die. N'o coward can be 

 so marked, for as mere boys they must 

 prove in puldic that they can suffer 

 great pain with a smile. 



The famous ceremony of initiation 

 includes a terrible thrashing from the 

 elders, who flog them with long switches 

 until tired. Woe to him who murmurs 

 or cries out,— he can never be bitten by 

 the incensed mother hornbill kept ready 

 to acknowledge his unwavering cour- 

 age. As a matter of fact the hen horn- 

 bill is only an accessory satisfying their 

 superstition, for the wounds are cut by 

 medicine men when the boys are blind- 

 folded. Those who withstand the or- 

 deal wear curious collars of a fibrous, 

 brown material, later thrown into the 

 big, unchanging river, but in the mean- 

 time supposedly protecting them from 

 sickness until the sores have healed : 

 and these scars make them men in the 

 eyes of all. Forever thereafter a Wa- 

 bali is considered brave, striving to 

 raise and protect his offspring as suc- 

 eessfnllv as the hornbill. 



