192 THE BOOK OF BIRDS 



The Rhinoceros Hornbill loves to vary his diet with 

 meat food in the form of dead game — the offal of deer and 

 other creatures shot by the hunters. In some countries he 

 is often tamed and kept in houses for destroying rats and 

 mice, as we in England would keep a cat. He belongs to 

 Malaya, Java, Sumatra, and the Philippine Islands. 



The Violaceous Hornbill is a native of Ceylon. The 

 Homrai and Rufous-necked Hornbills are Indian birds. 



Perhaps the most interesting thing about the life of a 

 Hornbill is what takes place at nesting-time. 



The place chosen for the nest is a hollow in the trunk of 

 some large tree, either where it has rotted away or where 

 the white ants have been eating the wood. The hen-bird 

 settles herself in this snug hole, and having no use for her 

 longer feathers obligingly sheds them, very much as cloak 

 or overcoat is thrown off when a person comes into a house 

 and intends to remain indoors. She will not need the 

 feathers for some weeks, and as they drop off they are 

 roughly collected and trodden into what has to be called 

 a nest. 



When it is nearly time for the eggs to be laid, her 

 mate proceeds to wall Jier up— for her own good and that 

 of the family-to-be. The plaster used is a curious gummy 

 substance, something like resin, which he packs round the 

 opening of the hole where she is ensconced, till it is only 

 just big enough for her beak to pop out and in. It is 

 generally believed that this is done to prevent the thieving 

 hands of monkeys reaching mother or children, while they 

 are in such a helpless state. 



All the time the mother-bird is sitting on the eggs, the 

 male Hornbill keeps her supplied with food, jerking it into 

 her mouth in the form of pellets. Should he unhappily 

 be killed or disabled, it is said that other members of the 



