NOTES ON THE NIDIFICATION OF SOME HORNBILLS. 463 



complement, and is more than any Hornbill of my acquaintance 

 lays. On my second visit the male was nowhere about, and 

 the female only hissed, and bit a little, poor thing. The hollow, 

 as I have said before, was in a Pynkado tree, and not above 

 twelve feet from the ground. This is surprising, especially as 

 the other two nests examined were also at heights of less than 

 20 feet, and all in small trees. Considering how wary and 

 wild the bird usually is, this is inexplicable. The material used 

 for partially blocking up the entrance seems, in this bird's as 

 well as in the case of R. undulatus, R. subru/lcollisj and B. 

 albirostris, similar to that employed by D. cavatus. 



The eggs are faintly glossy white, finely pitted like those of 

 the large Hornbill, but none have the raised little tubercles 

 apparent in some eggs of the latter. In shape the five eggs as 

 yet taken are all alike long ovals. They measure respectively 

 1-75" X 1-33", l-75"xl-30^ l-88"Xl-40", 1-82" v 1-35", and 

 1-83" X l•38'^ 



146 bis. — Rhyticeros undulatus, Shaw. 



I was unfortunate with this bird. Only one out of three nests 

 examined contained eggs, and again when I secured these latter, 

 the female managed to elude us by getting up well into the 

 hollow above, which was in a huge dead Thingau {Hopea 

 odoratd). I took the eggs and foolishly left two Karens to cut 

 down the tree and bring me the female. Bad scran to them 

 they did so, but spoilt her for a specimen, pulling out the whole 

 tail in dragging her out. However, 1 have kept the head, the 

 beak of which straight from gape to point measures 6 43", so 

 there is no mistake. The two eggs taken are miniatures of 

 some of D. cavatus, but they seem to be broader in proportion 

 to their length than the majority of eggs of the latter species. 

 They measure respectively 2-28''x 1-65", and 2-22" X 1*64". 



146 «er.— Rhyticeros subruficoUis, Blyth. 



As I have already mentioned, I have as yet taken no eggs 

 of this species, though I found several nests which were 

 precisely like those of R. undulatus, but in immense high trees 

 and far more secure than the nests of any other species from 

 the height and inaccessibility of the localities chosen. The 

 entrance holes were closed up exactly in the same way as in 

 the case of the others, with a plastering of mud, etc. 



59 



