THE HORNBILL. 



A MORE odd-looking bird than the Hornbill surely 

 was never seen outside the realm of phantasy and 

 fable. It really would seem as if Nature had gone 

 out of her way to produce one bird at least that should be 

 undeniably grotesque and ridiculous. Was it not Agassiz, 

 indeed, who remarked that there were jokes in nature ? 



Here we have a bird with a beak enormously big in 

 proportion to its body, with a helmet-like crest above it 

 (sometimes almost as large as the beak), and — eyelashes ! 

 The odd effect is all the greater because the Hornbill is 

 a serious-looking bird, with a certain air of dignity and 

 gravity, as it sits with its head thrown back and its 

 chest thrown forward. Moreover, formidable though this 

 helmeted head appears, it is capable of doing very little 

 injury except to reptiles and insects, and perhaps rats 

 and mice. 



The Hornbills are a rather numerous family. There 

 are two large fellows with long legs, and nearly the size of 

 a turkey, who are ground- walkers and live in Africa, and 

 something like sixt}^ others who are tree-dwellers and have 

 short legs with strong broad-soled feet well fitted for 

 gripping the branches on which they perch. 



One of the former, the Abyssinian Ground-Hornbill, is 

 not particular what he eats, so long as the quantity is 

 sufficient. Small birds and reptiles, and the little furry 

 creatures of the forest, are all sampled in turn. And it is 

 interesting to know that when some snake, too large for' 



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