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mmmmmmm 



Tickell says that its roar reechoes through the hills to such a degree that it is difficult to assign 

 the noise to a bird, and Wallace states that this is kept up so continuously as to be absolutely un- 

 bearable. He heard it plainly a mile away. The flight of this species is heavy, and performed by 

 repeated flappings of its huge wings. It usually proceeds in a straight line, and' sails only when 

 about to alight upon some tree. The strokes are made with great force, and the noise of its wings 

 can be heard for more than a mile. As a rule the food of this Hornbill is strictly fruits — certainly 

 so, says Hodgson, at certain seasons, as in the months of January and February, when he found 

 the stomachs contained nothing but the fruit of the Pipal tree. Tickell states that it eats lizards 

 readily, not only from the hand, but will search for them and seize them. With this exception, 

 authors generally agree in regarding fruit as the sole food of this bird. 



It breeds in the holes of large trees, and, like the other members of this Family, the male 

 plasters the female in, and never allows her to leave the nest until incubation is accomplished, 

 keeping her well supplied with food in the meanwhile. The egg, as described by Tickell, is a dirty 

 yellowish brownish white, spindle-shaped or pointed at both ends, and of a coarse surface, indented 

 with numerous pores. Longitudinal and transverse axis 2y|" and 1-J" respectively. 



" The newly hatched young," says Wallace, " is as large as a pigeon, destitute of plumage, ex- 

 ceedingly plump and soft, with a semitransparent skin, so that it looks more like a bag of jelly 

 with head and feet stuck on than a real bird. Frequently the wing-spots, rump, nuchal crest, and 

 parts of the bill are stained yellow. This colour comes from a bundle of stiff feathers protruding 

 from the sac at the root of the tail, which exudes an oily secretion, with which the bird dresses 

 its plumage." "When first shot," says Blyth, "this colour comes off the bill in considerable 

 quantities, and the yellow substance continues to exude from the brush long after the specimen is 

 prepared and dry." Mr. Oates states, in ' Stray Feathers ' (1875) p. 55, in reference to this 

 colouring-matter on the plumage, that he does not think the "yellow on the head and neck is en- 

 tirely due to the secretion of the uropygial gland. It does not come off in any quantity when the 

 bird is killed." Mr. Inglis, who met with this species in Oachar, states that in the dry weather 

 they are continually migrating to the south, and, during the rains, to the north. They go mostly 

 in flocks of five and seven, but sometimes thirty are seen together. A windy day is the best for 

 shooting them, and they afford " splendid eating, far superior to any fowl or pheasant." Among 

 the inhabitants of the forest, this bird is stated to be sacred to Vishnu, and the Nepaulese name 

 for this species, "Homrai," is derived from the notes it is accustomed to utter. 





Male. — Bill much curved. Maxilla yellow, reddish towards the tip ; mandible ivory-white in 

 adults, the base of both black. Casque very broad, flat, extending backwards over the head for 

 about half the length of the bill, and descending to the maxilla at a right angle. Posterior termi- 

 nation black, its upper edge reddish ; anterior edge black, this colour reaching to the bill and con- 

 tinuing along the culmen to the point. B-est of casque waxen-yellow. Cutting-edges of bill also 

 black. Head and base of bill black, as are also the back, breast, and abdomen. Occiput, neck, 

 thighs and tips of upper tail-coverts, crissum, and under tail-coverts white. Wings black, with 

 the ends of the greater coverts, secondaries, primaries, and a spot on these last, about halfway 



