WILD LIFE ACROSS THE WORLD 



simple," was the reply. " Come and see my cooling 

 machine." The visitor was interested, as he knew 

 there was no ice anywhere near. On arriving at the 

 beer storage room, he was thunder-struck to see about 

 thirty bottles of beer standing on the floor with a huge 

 python coiled in and out and around them ! 



I had not forgotten the big hornbill which I had 

 noticed on my former visit, and at sunrise I went out 

 to look for his nest. I had marked the place down 

 roughly, and after hiding amongst some branches for 

 half an hour I saw him come along. A moment later 

 be was holding on to the bark of a big tree, about sixty 

 or seventy feet from the ground, feeding his mate, 

 whose bill was visible out of a small hole in the trunk. 

 The original hole had been carefully plastered up with 

 mud until its diameter was so small that the mother-bird 

 could not leave until released by her mate when her 

 young were old enough to fly. Whether this is done 

 to keep out monkeys and snakes I do not know. 



Naturally I was most anxious to secure a moving 

 picture of the process of feeding by regurgitation 

 employed by this bird, so as soon as the male had 

 departed in search of more fruit I built a little bower 

 of branches and hid myself and my camera beneath 

 it. The experience I had there was the reverse 

 of enjoyable. In addition to the discomforts arising 

 from the cramped position and the heat, both the 

 animal and the insect worlds were rather too much 



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