The Hornbills 171 



peculiarity as remarkable, which he was the first to notice. 

 This is the fact that Hornbills, at intervals of time, whether 

 periodical or irregular is not yet known, cast the epithelial 

 lining of their gizzard, that layer being formed by a 

 secretion derived from the gland of the proventriculus or 

 some other part of the alimentary canal. The epithelium 

 is ejected in the form of a sack or bag, the mouth of which 

 is closely folded, and is filled with the fruit that the bird 

 has been eating. The announcement of a circumstance so 

 extraordinary naturally caused some hesitation in its 

 acceptance, but the essential truth of Mr. Bartlett's observa- 

 tions has been abundantly confirmed by Sir William 

 Flower (t. c. p. 1 50), and especially by Dr. Murie (' Proceed- 

 ings Zoological Society, 1874/ p. 420), and what seems 

 now to be most wanted is to know whether these castings 

 are really intended to form the hen-bird's food during her 

 confinement." Of this, in my own mind, there can be 

 little doubt, but Mr. Hose says that he has also found in 

 the stomach of a Hornbill the " gum-like substance " with 

 which the plastering in of the female is effected, so that 

 between providing the material for the effectual imprison- 

 ment of his wife, and shredding the lining of his gizzard 

 for her future sustenance, to say nothing of that of the 

 baby, the male Hornbill must have rather a bad time of it. 

 No wonder then that Livingstone says that " the prisoner 

 becomes quite fat, and is esteemed a dainty morsel by the 

 natives ; while the poor slave of a husband gets so lean that 

 on the sudden lowering of the temperature, which often 

 happens after a fall of rain, he is benumbed, falls down, and 

 dies." The plumpness of the female must ensue after the 

 moult is completed inside the tree, for in the specimen of 

 Lophoceros melanoleucus sent to the British Museum by Mr. 

 Schonland from South Africa, the hen-bird is a very scraggy 

 individual, and must offer an uninviting meal even to a 

 Kaffir. It is somewhat remarkable that the curious mode 



