HABITS OF BIRDS 



is imprisoned by him while sitting upon the eggs in the hollow 

 tree, in which, according to the most trustworthy authorities, 

 the male builds up the entrance to the nest with clay. Dr. 

 Livingstone was the first person, 1 believe, who called attention 

 to this singular habit in the hornbills ; since then many other 

 observers have confirmed the fact, both in Africa and India. 

 Captain Tiokell speaks of it, saying that he ' saw with his own 

 eyes,' although he previously 'thought it was a fable.' The 

 Rev. J. Mason, in his work on Burmah, says of the concave 

 hornbills, ' their nests are constructed in a superior manner of 

 clay in the stumps or hollows of old trees. After the female 

 has laid five or six eggs, the male bird shuts her entirely in 

 with mud except a small hole, where she can only put out her 

 head. Here she must sit during her incubation, for if she 

 breaks through the enclosure, her life pays the forfeit ; but to 

 compensate for the loss of freedom, her spirited mate is ever 

 on the alert to gratify his dainty mistress, who compels him 

 to bring all her viands unbroken, for if a fig or any fruit be 

 injured she will not touch it.' 



"This remarkable passage at once arrested my attention, 

 for doubtless it is the result of careful observation. The point 

 to. be noticed is the fig-like appearance of the pellet of food 

 that the male bird offers to the female, as it would be imi30ssible, 

 at the distance the observer must be from the birds, that he 

 could distinguish the little yellow-skinned bag from a fig or 

 other fruit of about that size. Mr. Wallace says the entrance 

 of the nest is stopped up with mud and gummy substances 

 Referring to Dr. Livingstone, I find that on p. 613, Missionary 

 Travels in South Africa, he says : — 'The first time I saw this 

 bird was at Kolobeng, where I had gone to the forest for some 

 timber. Standing by a tree, a native looked behind me and 

 exclaimed, " There is the nest of a Korwe." I saw a slit only, 

 about half-an-inch wide and 3 or 4 in. long, in a slight hollow 

 of the tree. Thinking 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 his arm into 

 the hole, and brought out a tockus, or red-beaked hornbill, 

 which he killed. 



'"He informed me that when the female enters her nest she 

 submits to a real confinement. The male plasters up the 

 entrance, leaving only a narrow slit by which to feed his mate, 

 and which exactly suits the form of his beak. The female 



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