"" :.'!- . 



n: 





great that it can be heard half a mile distant. Its food consists of various fruits ; and it is parti- 

 cularly fond of the figs of the Banian and other trees of the Ficus family. Except when feeding, 

 it is very shy and wary, but at such times will frequently return to the same tree even after having 

 been shot at. The female lays two or three coarse white eggs in the hollow of a tall tree, and, 

 according to the Karens, is not immured while sitting. The egg is 2" by 1^" in size. When 

 feeding, this species is usually silent, and on the lofty fruit-trees mixes indiscriminately with 

 numerous species of fruit-eating pigeons (Carpophaga, Treron, &c), as well as monkeys (Hylo- 

 bates lar, Semnopithecus phayrei, Inuus nemestrinus, &c), which are similarly occupied, and form 

 a picture so singular and strange as not easily to be forgotten when once seen. Tickell relates 

 that on one occasion he was on his way down the Houngthran river, " a clear pretty stream 

 shaded by lofty timber, eddying in deep pools, under high gravelly banks, breaking into foam and 

 tumbling over boulders of sandstone, or rippling along shallow beds of clean pebbles and silvery 

 sand. To the last-named spots, just before or during the short twilights of a tropical evening, 

 these Hornbills used to resort in great numbers, allowing my boat to approach pretty near. As 

 it glided down the stream I could thus watch them on the little sand flats, hopping freely enough 

 along the ground, and delving their beaks in, as if searching for worms or molluscs, while some 

 stood up to their bellies in the water, apparently much enjoying their bath. As the dusk gathered 

 over the river, I remarked them resorting to roost on the loftiest trees fringing its course. The 

 Karens, who live in these virgin forests, say that between the ' Yowng-yowng ' (JB. bicomis) and 

 the 'Owkhyennet' (the present species) there is always open war; and, in truth, I do not remember 

 to have remarked the two species anywhere together." He had observed parties of five or six of 

 this species flying over the sea at a great height, and had watched them until they " melted from 

 sight into the horizon, as if they had finally left the shore." As the species is not found on the 

 western shores of the Bay of Bengal, he could not imagine where these excursions ended. I have 

 lately seen, however, in Mr. Sharpe's possession, several specimens of this Hornbill, sent from 

 Borneo by Governor Ussher, which proves that the species inhabits that island ; and it is possible 

 it may also dwell upon some of the intervening ones between Borneo and Siam, where it is common. 

 The individuals seen by Tickell may have been on their way to some of the islands in the Bay of 

 Bengal ; and long flights are very possibly frequently undertaken by the species. 



Lieut. Ramsay says that the Burmese have many legends about the Hornbills, and that the 

 name is continually occurring in their poetry and plays, whilst the female Hornbill is regarded as 

 a model of virtue. They also imagine that the plaster with which the bird closes the entrance 

 to its nest is made of earth brought from the four quarters of the globe, and mixed with a gum 

 extracted from trees ; and this composition is much esteemed for its medicinal properties. 



Male.— Bill curved, pointed, greenish white ; base of bill and ribbed part of maxilla vinous 

 brown; cutting-edges in adults much broken. About a third of the culmen from its base is 

 covered by five or more deep plaits. This casque-like addition to the culmen is cream-colour, 

 with the furrows earthy. Bare skin of face and rim around the eye bright vinous brown; eyelids 

 pale greenish; skin of the throat bright lemon-yellow, without any black bars as in E. mdulatw. 



