140 The Bird 
oned mate and young. I say probably, because no one 
has seen them do this, but as in captivity the operation 
occurs repeatedly during the breeding season, there can 
be but little doubt concerning its evident significance. 
After walling up his mate and her egg in some hollow 
tree, the male hornbill takes upon himself the labour of 
supplying her with food throughout the period of incu- 
bation and the subsequent rearing of the young bird. 
Instead of bringing food piecemeal,—nut by nut, grape 
by grape,—the lining of the entire gizzard peels off at 
certain frequent intervals, appearing, when ejected at 
the mouth, like a small bag or purse, the puckered open- 
ing (heightening the simile) serving to retain securely 
the contents of the gizzard,—a dozen or score of grapes 
or other fruit. This, the male bird, in his native land, 
doubtless takes in his beak to the tiny opening of the 
walled-up nest and delivers into the bill of his mate. 
How admirable a spouse this, who not only seeks and 
provides sufficient food for his temporarily helpless 
family, but bears it to them wrapped in a packet torn 
from his very body—if not a “pound of flesh,” at least 
enough to make a lunch-basket! 
The Intestines 
Beyond the gizzard is the intestinal canal, which 
varies greatly in length in different birds. The ostrich 
has forty-six feet of this digestive tube, while the nectar 
and tiny insects snatched by a hummingbird in its flight 
are digested in a delicate hair-like duct but two inches in 
length. Although comparatively of such great length, the 
