234 HORNBILLS. 



These birds are inhabitants of the warmer parts of the Old 

 World — most of the species being found in the Eastern islands 

 and in Africa. They are generally of large size. In a state of 

 nature their food consists principally of fruits, but they are said 

 by some writers to feast upon carrion ; and specimens in confine- 

 ment have been seen to capture rats and mice, which they swallow 

 whole, after crushing them a little Avith their enormous mandibles. 

 They probably feed on almost anything that comes in their way. 

 Lesson thinks that the Eastern species are very fond of nutmegs, 

 from which their flesh derives a delicious flavour. They usually 

 live in flocks in the forests, where they perch upon the highest 

 branches. During flight, their head is drawn back, and the move- 

 ment of their wings is very rapid, producing a considerable rush- 

 ing sound as the birds pass through the air. This is heightened 

 by a constant clattering of their large mandibles, and the occa- 

 sional utterance of a loud croak. In fact, according to Lesson, the 

 noise produced by a flock of hornbills when passing along in the 

 air is very alarming to those who are unaware of its origin, for it 

 has no distant resemblance to one of those sudden and violent 

 winds which often come on unexpectedly in tropical climates. 

 " Their voice is composed of the transient blast of a bugle and the 

 sudden hiss of an exploding skyrocket ; they seem to utter these 

 calls periodically, without any obvious reason, as if to relieve the 

 monotony of their still and melancholy lives." 



An Abyssinian species is reported by Major Denham to live 

 upon insects, fish, and serpents, to the latter of which it is directed 

 by a special instinct. " It discovers their vicinity while they are 

 yet underground, digs on the spot, destroys the nest, and feeds 

 on the venomous inhabitant and its eggs." 



The hornbill makes its nest in the hole of some decaying tree, 

 plastering up the entrance with mud, so as to leave a very small 

 aperture. The following account of the nest of the red-breasted 

 hornbill is given by Dr. Livingstone : " The first time that I saw 

 this bird was at Kolobeng, where I had gone to the forest for some 

 timber. Standing by a tree, a native looked behind me, and ex- 

 claimed, ' There is the nest of a korwe ! ' I saw a slit, only about 

 half an inch wide and three or four inches long, in a slight hollow of 

 the tree. Thinking the word ' korwe' denoted some small animal, 

 I waited with interest to see what he would extract. He broke 

 the clay which surrounded the slit, put his arm into the liole, and 

 brought out a tockas or red-breasted hornbill, which he killed. He 

 informed me that when the female enters her nest she submits to 



