THE GREY HORNBILL 89 



The cry of the grey hombill is feeble for so large a 

 bird, and is querulous, like that of the common kite. 



The nesting habits of the hombills are very remark- 

 able. The eggs are deposited in a cavity in a tree. 

 The cavity selected may be the result of decay in 

 the wood, or it may have been hollowed out by a 

 woodpecker or other bird. In either case the hombill 

 has usually to enlarge the cavity, for, being a big 

 bird, it requires a spacious nest. When all preparations 

 have been made, the female enters the nest hole, 

 and does not emerge until some weeks later, when the 

 eggs have been. hatched and the young are ready to fly. 

 Having entered the nest, the hen hornbill proceeds 

 to reduce the size of the orifice by which she gained 

 access to the iiest cavity, by plastering it up with her 

 ordure until the aperture is no more than a mere 

 slit, only just large enough to enable her to insert her 

 beak through it. Thus, during the whole period of 

 incubation and brooding she is entirely dependent 

 on the cock for food. And he never leaves her in the 

 lurch. He is most assiduous in his attentions. When 

 he reaches the trunk in which his wife is sitting, he, 

 while clinging to the bark with his claws, taps the 

 trunk with his bill, and thus apprises her of his arrival. 

 She then thrusts her bill, through the orifice and re- 

 ceives the food. When at length the young are ready 

 to leave the nest, the mother emerges with her plumage 

 in a much-bedraggled condition. 



Why the hen hombill behaves thus, why she is 

 content to submit periodically to a term of " simple 

 imprisonment," is one of the unsolved riddles of 



