504 



The Living Animals of the World 



for food without moving from her 

 sitting position. During incubation 

 the male bird supplies the female 

 with food in the form of pellets of 

 fruit, seeds, insects, portions of reptiles, 

 etc., the pellets being enclosed each 

 in a skin of rubber-like consistency. 

 While feeding the female, the male 

 clings to the bark of the tree, or sits 

 on a branch if conveniently near, and 

 jerks these pellets into the gaping 

 beak of the hen, two to four pellets 

 forming a meal. During mastication 

 (for it is a mistake to suppose that 

 the hornbills always bolt their food 

 entire) some fragments of the pellets 

 fall to the ground, and seeds which 

 these fragments may contain take 

 root, germinate, and sprout, and the 

 natives can judge approximately of 

 the date of incubation by the age of 

 the seedlings. When these are four- 

 leaved, the eggs have been hatched 

 out for two or three weeks. At this 

 stage, though not always so early, 

 the mother bird leaves the nest, 

 breaking down the gluey substance 

 with her beak to effect an exit ; 

 having left the nest, the aperture 

 through which she left is carefully 

 closed up again, leaving the slit as 

 before, and now both male and female 

 devote their energies to feeding the young birds, which in course of time follow the example 

 of their mother and leave their place of imprisonment. It is more than probable that this 

 gluing up first of the mother bird and her eggs and afterwards of the nestlings alone is solely 

 a means of protection against predacious carnivora. . . . 



" The nesting-season is during May and June, and it is noteworthy that the birds, if 

 undisturbed, return to the same nesting-place every year. The saplings at the foot of the 

 tree, sprung from seeds dropped in the first year of paring, afford signs to the natives of the 

 number of years during which the tree has been occupied. If during paring or incubation 

 the female or female and young are destroyed, the male takes to himself another mate, and 

 repairs to the same nesting-place ; if, however, the male and female are destroyed, the nest is 

 never reoccupied by other pairs. An interesting incident was observed while on Mount Dulit. 

 Espying on a tree the external signs of a hornbill's nest, and a male rhinoceros perched close 

 by, I shot the male, and while waiting for my Dyak collectors to make a ladder up the tree 

 to secure the female, I observed several young male birds fly to the nest and assiduously ply 

 the bereaved widow with food, a fact which seems to indicate a competition in the matrimonial 

 market of the bird-world as severe as that among human beings. It is no easy matter to 

 procure embryos or nestlings of hornbills, for the natives are inordinately fond of both as 

 articles of diet, and, further, are always anxious to secure the tail-feathers of the adults to 

 adorn their war-coats and hats. 



"The native method of catching the female during incubation is ingenious, though 



Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.\ 



CRESTED HORNBILL. 

 The Hornbills derive their name from the great size of the bill. 



[Parson's Green. 



