THE WHITE-CRESTED HORN BILL. 369 



size, and when it is adult the helmet and beak attain their full proportions. It is said that 

 the age of the Hornbill may lie known by inspecting the beak, for that in every year a wrinkle 

 is added to the number of the furrows that are found on the bill. 



The object of the huge helmet-like appendage is very obscure, but the probability is that 

 it may aid the bird in producing the loud roaring cry for which it is so celebrated. When at 

 liberty in its native forests, the Hornbill is lively and active, leaping from bough to bough 

 with great lightness, and appearing not to be in the least incommoded by its large beak. It 

 ascends the tree by a succession of easy jumps, each of which brings it to a higher branch, 

 and when it has attained the very summit of the tree, it stops and pours forth a succession of 

 loud roaring sounds, which can be heard at a considerable distance. 



The flight of the Hornbill is rather laborious, and performed by rapid flappings of the 

 wings. While in the air the bird has a habit of clattering its great mandibles together, 

 which, with the noise of the wings, produces a most weird-like sound in the forest depths, 

 which is a fertile source of alarm to the timid traveller. 



The food of the Hornbill seems to consist both of animal and vegetable matters, and 

 Lesson remarks that those species which inhabit Africa live on carrion, while those that are 

 found in Asia feed on fruits, and that their flesh acquires thereby an agreeable and peculiar 

 flavor — something, we may presume, like that of the famous lamb fed upon pistachio nuts. 

 Perhaps this statement may be too sweeping, and the birds of both continents may in all 

 probability be able to eat both animal and vegetable food. 



At all events, the enormous beak of the Rhinoceros Hornbill, which is one of the Asiatic 

 species, appears to be made for the express purpose of destroying animal life, as is now known 

 to be the case with the corresponding member of the toucan. It is hard to think that so for- 

 midable a weapon should be given to the Hornbill merely for the purpose of eating fruits ; 

 and when we remember that many of the species are acknowledged to be carnivorous, and 

 that the toucan employs its huge and similarly formed beak in the destruction of small 

 quadrupeds and birds, it is but rational to suppose that the Hornbill acts often in a similar 

 fashion. 



One individual, a Concave Hornbill (Buceros cavdtus), which was kept in captivity, was 

 much more attached to animal than vegetable food, and, like the toucan, would seize with 

 avidity a dead mouse, and swallow it entire, after squeezing it once or twice between the saw- 

 shaped edges of its beak. The Rhinoceros Hornbill is said to be oftentimes extremely 

 carnivorous in its habits, and to follow the hunters for the purpose of feeding upon the offal 

 of the deer and other game which they may have killed. 



AYhile on the ground, the movements of the Hornbill are rather peculiar, for instead of 

 walking soberly along, as might be expected from a bird of its size, it hops along by a suc- 

 cession of jumps. It is but seldom seen on the ground, preferring the trunks of trees, which 

 its powerful feet are well calculated to clasp firmly. 



The color of the Rhinoceros Hornbill is as follows : The general tint of the body is dusky 

 black, changing to grayish-white below. The feathers of the head and neck are long and 

 loose, and more like hairs than feathers. The tail is of a grayish-white, with a bold black 

 band running across it near the extremity. The enormous bill is generally of a yellowish- 

 white color, the upper mandible being of a beautiful red at its base, and the lower man- 

 dible black. The helmet is colored with black and white. The length of the bill is about 

 ten inches. 



Another species of this curious gi'oup is the White-crested Hokxbill, a bird which is 

 remarkable for the peculiarity from which it derives its name. 



Although not nearly so large as the preceding species, it is a truly handsome bird, and, 

 except by an ornithologist, would hardly be recognized as belonging to the same group as the 

 Rhinoceros Hornbill. Its beak, although very large in proportion to the rest of the bird, is 

 not so prominent a feature as in the other Hornbills, and its beautiful white fan-shaped crest 

 takes off much of the grotesque aspect which would otherwise be caused by the large bill. 

 Very little of the helmet is visible in this species, as it is of comparatively small dimensions, 



Vol. 11.^47. 



