THE PIE KIND. 18? 



out from the top, which looks somewhat like a 

 second bill, and gives this bird, otherwise fierce 

 and ugly, a very formidable appearance. The 

 horn springs out of the forehead, and grows to 

 the upper part of the bill, being of great bulk ; 

 so that near the forehead it is four inches broad, 

 not unlike the horn of the rhinoceros, but more 

 crooked at the tip. Were the body of the bird 

 answerable in size to the head, the calao would 

 exceed in magnitude even the vulture or the 

 eagle. But the head and beak are out of all pro- 

 portion, the body being not much larger than that 

 of a hen. Yet even here there are varieties ; for 

 in such of those birds as come from different 

 parts of Africa, the body is proportionable to the 

 beak ; in such as come from the Molucca Islands, 

 the beak bears no proportion to the body. Of 

 what use this extraordinary excrescence is to 

 the bird, is not easy to determine ; it lives, like 

 others of its kind, upon carrion, and seldom has 

 a living enemy to cope with : Nature seems to 

 sport in the production of many animals, as if 

 she were willing to exhibit instances as well of 

 variety as economy in their formation. 



