370 THE WHITE-CRESTED HORNBILL. 



and is hidden by the plumy crowTi which decorates the head. The tail is vei-y long, and 

 is gTaduated and colored in a very bold manner, each feather being black, except at the 

 extreme tips, which are snowy white. The general color of this bird is deep, dull black, 

 through which a few very small white feathers protrude at distant intervals ; the tail is black, 

 each feather being tipped with white, and the crest is white, with the exception of the black 

 shaft and black tip of each feather. 



The noise produced l)y a flock of Hornbills passing through the air is said to be frightful. 

 The constant clattering of their bills with tlie utterance of loud croaking, and the rush of such 

 large bodies through the air, has much the effect of a brisk wind. Their voice is like a blast 

 from a bugle. 



The nest of some Hornbills is most singular. "The first time I saw one," says Livingston, 

 "was at Kolsberg, when I had gone to the forest for some timber. Standing by a tree, a 

 native looked behind me and exclaimed, ' there is a nest of a Korwe ! ' I now saw a slit only 

 about a half-inch wide, and three or four inches long, in a slight hollow of the tree. Tliinking 

 the word Korwe denoted some small animal, I waited with interest to see what he would 

 extract. He broke the clay, which surrounded the .slit, put in his arm, and pulled out a 

 Tockas, or Red-breasted Hornbill. He informed me that when the female enters her nest, she 

 submits to real confinement ; the male plasters up the entrance, leaving only a narrow slit that 

 exactly suits the form of his beak, through which to feed his mate. The female makes the 

 nest of her own feathers, lays her eggs, hatches them, and remains with the young until they 

 are fully fledged. During all this time, which is stated to be fully two or three months, the 

 male continues to feed her and the young family. The prisoner generally becomes fat, and is 

 esteemed a very dainty morsel by the natives, while the poor slave of a husband gets so lean, 

 that on the sudden lowering of the temperature that often occurs after a fall of rain, he is 

 benumbed and dies." 



Dr. Livingston also gives the following interesting anecdote, illustrative of the affection of 

 these birds to their mates : "Near sunset, on the 2.5th August," (he writes from Dakomoio 

 Island), "we saw immense flocks of the largest Hornbills {Biiceros cristdtus) come here to 

 roost on the great trees which skirt the edge of the cliffs ; they leave early in the morning, 

 often before sunrise, for their feeding places, coming and going in pairs. They are evidently 

 of a loving nature, and strongly attached to each other, the male always nestling close to his 

 mate. A fine male fell to the ground from fear of Dr. Kirk's gun ; it was caught and kept 

 on board. The female did not fly off in the morning to feed with the others, but flew around 

 the ship, anxiously trying by the jilaintive calls, to induce her beloved one to follow her. 

 She came again in the evening to repeat the performance. The poor disconsolate captive 

 refused to eat, and in five days died of grief, because he could not have her company. No 

 internal injury could be detected after death." 



The Great Homray, or Two-horned Ilornbill, has been seen five thousand feet above sea 

 level, on the Neilgherries and the Himalayas. It is often seen in flocks of twenty. It is 

 a silent bird generally, making merely a deej) but very loud croak. Hodgson says: "The 

 clamor made V/y s; WTJcnidred bird i^ .rltogether amazing. I cannot liken this vehement vocifer- 

 ation to anything but the ))rayiug of a mule. Its power is extraordinary, and is the conse- 

 quence of an unusually osseous structure of the rings of the trachea. The Homray flies with 

 more repeated flaps of the wings than the others, onlj^ in general, sailing just before alighting. 

 The noise of its wings could be heard a mile distant. Like the others it builds in holes of 

 trees ; the male building the female in and plastering the entrance, as in the case just described. 

 Major Trickell has witnessed this operation, and described it with due care of a naturalist. 

 Mason, in his work on Burmah, makes the follovdng statement ; "The female must sit during 

 her inculcation, for, if she breaks through her enclosure, her life pays the forfeit. But to 

 compensate for loss of freedom, her spirited mate is ever on the watch to gratify his dainty 

 mistress." 



Mr. Gilbert remarks of this species, that a small sac is placed at the root of the tail, in 

 which is a bundle or pen(;il of short bristles, forming a brush, from whence exudes a yellow, 

 oily secretion with which the birds appear to dress their feathers. 



