26 
measured 7% feet in circumference. The entrance to the nest, 394 
feet from the ground, was an opening 44 inches high by 3% inches 
wide, but when discovered the width was reduced to a narrow slit by 
two cakes which prevented the female from absenting herself from 
duty. Small bits of wood are the principal constituent of these 
cakes, but mixed with the wood are legs and elytra of beetles, occa- 
sional feathers, and numerous small seeds. What the cementing 
substance is I can not say, but it certainly renders the materials 
fairly cohesive, as the cakes may be removed entire and subjected to 
rough handling without being broken. Plate VIII shows a portion 
of the tree (nest No. 2) with the cakes in place. As will be seen 
the cakes meet neither at top nor bottom and serve only to narrow 
the natural opening without reducing its height.t. The distance 
from center of opening of this first nest to the bottom of the cavity 
was 18 inches. Two small young and an addled egg rested on a 
mass of fine chips mixed with a few seeds and small soft fruits; 
material that would ordinarily accumulate. 
Nest No. 2: In the case of our second nest, examined May 9, 
we were more fortunate, as it contained three perfect eggs, varying 
somewhat as to incubation, but easily blown. This nest was situated 
considerably higher than the first, the entrance being 53 feet from 
the ground, where the tree was 44 feet in circumference. The 
opening measured 4 inches by 6, and as in the first nest was 
reduced to a slit by being plastered up on each side. The three 
eggs from this nest measure in inches: 1.91 by 1.28; 1.84 by 1.33; 
1.80 by 1.30. In color they are dull white with no markings except 
a few nest stains; their surface is chalky with occasional minute 
lumps. They are figured on Plate IX. 
Nest No. 3: On May 25 the cavity described as nest No. 1 was 
again occupied, the female being already plastered in. While we 
were waiting for our climber the male bird visited the tree and 
clung woodpecker-like at the lower side of the hole. In this posi- 
tion the slightly spread tail was apparently used as a prop and the 
* Newton (Dic. of Bds., p. 437) says: “When the hen begins to sit the 
cock plasters up the entrance with mud or clay, leaving only a small window 
through which she receives the food he brings her during her voluntary 
imprisonment.” On page 436 of the Dictionary is figured a nest of the 
Indian species Dicroceros bicornis in which the tip of the female’s bill 
protrudes from a round opening. In these two points, the shape of the 
opening and the material used in the cakes, the nest of the Panay hornbill 
differs from that of the Indian species described by Newton. 
