THE BABIRUSA HOG 177 



coo and play in the thickets ; Nicobar' ground- 

 pigeons, hackled like game fowl, patrol the clearings 

 in busy hungry flocks. Rollers and orioles, lorikeets 

 and kingfishers inhabit the jungle ; enormous horn- 

 bills sit in the tops of the trees, their quaint beaks of a 

 gaudy orange colour suggesting the wondrous fauna of 

 a pantomime. The babirusa wallows in the muddy 

 clearings in the forest ; it swims well, and is said to 

 be able to dive on occasion. The young are born in 

 November, December and January, their nursery 

 consisting of a small underground hole made by the 

 sow, and lined with leaves ; they can move about on 

 the second day. Many years ago a male babirusa 

 was born in the London Zoological Gardens ; it was 

 of a grey colour all over like its parents, was tinged 

 with pink under the belly, and lived until the tusks 

 began to appear. 



