1 33 cassell's nooK of birds. 



The Djolan, as this bird is called by the natives, inhabits the Sunda Islands and Malacca, where 

 it frequents extensive forests and promontories, from three thousand to four thousand feet above the 

 sea, rarely ascending beyond that height, apparently because certain favourite fruii-trees do not grow 

 above that point. From early morning it may be seen sweeping in a direct line above the summits 

 of the loftiest giants of the forest, with head and neck thrust forward, producing as it flies the 

 remarkable rushing sound above described. These birds live in pairs throughout the entire year, and 

 subsist upon various kinds of fruits. We have made various successful attempts to rear the young on 

 cooked potatoes and fruit, but have frequently found that the adults refused all nourishment, and only 

 survived their captivity a few days. Whilst at liberty we have never heard this species produce any 

 sound; but, when excited, the prisoners uttered a loud grunting resembling that of an angry pig. 

 Despite the light construction of their large beak, they bite very sharply, and we have known them make 

 a hole through a half-inch plank with which their cage had been repaired. The nest of this species is 

 placed at a considerable height, in the hollow of one of the huge trees, covered with dense masses of 

 parasites that form so striking a feature in the primitive forest. The only nest we were fortunate 

 enough to find was betrayed to us by the movements of the male bird. This breeding-hole was 

 some sixty feet above the ground ; in it we saw the female securely walled up with a mi.xture of earth 

 and bits of decayed wood, firmly cemented together with what we believe to be spittle from the male 

 bird's beak. Only a small aperture was left, tlirough which the female could obtain the fruits 

 assiduously brought her by her affectionate spouse. This breeding female had lost almost all the 

 principal wing and tail feathers, and would therefore have been powerless to save herself from danger 

 had she not been thus safely protected. The natives informed us that the female always moults in 

 this manner during the period of incubation, and does not recover her plumage till the young are 

 ready to fly. Horsfield mentions having been told that should the male bird discover that a rival has 

 attempted to minister to his partner's wants during his absence in search of food, he at once tears 

 do\vn the protecting wall, and leaves his fickle mistress to perish from exposure and hunger. The 

 nest of this bird described by Bernstein was formed of a few twigs and chips of wood placed at the 

 bottom of the hole, which contained a still blind nestling, and an egg that was nearly hatched. The 

 latter was of small size, oval in form, and had a rough white shell, marked here and there with pale 

 red and brown spots and cloudings. In an account given by Layard of the incubation of an allied 

 species, he says: "My friend, Mrs. Baker, thus speaks of the singular habits this bird exhibits, in 

 common with its congeners, of blocking up the sitting female in her nest : — ' Building her up with 

 mud and sticks into old broken hollow trees, or between the crowded stems of the tall euphorbia in 

 the forests, and closing up the entrance in such a manner that it is impossible to escape, only leaving 

 a small hole for the purpose of feeding her during her long imprisonment ; I do not know how long 

 she is thus kept in durance vile, but we have sometimes taken the females out, and found them so 

 cramped and weak as to be unable to fly. This peculiar habit may be a precautionary measure, to 

 protect the female during the season of incubation, as she may be too dull and exhausted to fly from 

 approaching danger. Depend upon it, it is not done in vain. We self-willed and presumptuous 

 beings often act without reason or reflection, but the birds ol the air and the lilies of the field are 

 protected by a higher Power.'" 



THE ABBAGAMBA, OR ABYSSINIAN HORNBILL. 



The Abbagamba, or Abyssinian Hornbill {Bucorax Abyssinicus), a well-known African species 



of the above family, is a large, powerfully-formed bird, with short wings and tail and long legs. Its 



huge beak, about a foot in length, is slightly cun-ed, flat at its sides, and blunt at the tip. The base 



of die upper mandible is surmounted by a high protuberance. The regions of the eye and throat are 



