I 



jungle, groves of trees, gardens, and especially the fine old avenues of banian and other trees that 

 abound in the extreme south of India, and are said to have been mostly planted by Hyder Ali. 

 It is almost always found in small parties, occasionally in pairs, living chiefly on fruit, and espe- 

 cially the figs of the banian, peepul, and other fig-trees, sometimes, however, feeding on large 

 insects. On such occasions I found that it had eaten Mantides and Locustse. It has a loud sharp 

 cry. In some parts of India the flesh is used medicinally to alleviate the pangs of child-birth.' ' 



Mr. Ball says that in Chota Nagpur this species is occasionally met with on the borders of 

 heavy jungle, and in open country, where mhowa trees abound. He shot it in Manbhum, Singh- 

 bhum, and Hazaribagh, but did not see it in Sirguja. It was apparently more abundant in the 

 Eajmehals, and in the Satpura hills very common. A female, procured in the Rajmehal hills on 

 the 14th April, had in her stomach a quantity of grasshoppers, in addition to some fruits of a 

 species of Ficus. 



Mr. Home, in the < Proceedings of the London Zoological Society ' for 1869, gives an interest- 

 ing account of the breeding-habits of this species, as observed by him at Mainpuri, in the North-west 

 Provinces of India. He states that, on account of the neck, bill, and tail being long, and the wings 

 comparatively short, the flight is rather undulating, and the flapping frequent, and that when in 

 the air the bird often utters its harsh note. When feeding, this species is very fearless ; and it has 

 the habit of climbing by the bill as a parrot does. " It would also extract the oranges piece by 

 piece, leaving the skins hanging apparently entire upon the twigs." Upon the lawn surrounding 

 Mr. Home's house was a fine sissoo-tree (Dahlbergia sissoo), with a large hole in the trunk beneath 

 the first fork, for the possession of which Rollers and Parrots were always contending. At last 

 a pair of this Hornbill made up their minds to occupy it. The hole was about a foot deep ; and on 

 the 29th April the female went into it, and did not come out again. The next day he observed 

 her working hard to close up the entrance with her own ordure, plastering it right and left with 

 her bill, as with a trowel. The male was most assiduous in supplying her with food, bringing 

 generally the small peepul-fig. He would first alight near by, then fly to the hole, and, holding 

 on to the bark by his claws, knock with his bill, when that of the female would appear and receive 

 the fruit. The hole in the tree was at first about 6 inches high, and 3 to 4 wide ; but when closed 

 the opening at its widest part was only sufficiently large to admit the finger. It took two or three 

 days to reduce the opening to this size, after which the ordure was thrown out. On the 7th May 

 he took the female out, and obtained three eggs. She was very fat, and scarcely able to fly at 

 first, but succeeded in a short time. The natives say that as soon as the newly-hatched young 

 need food the female digs herself out. 



In e Stray Peathers ' (I. c.) the Messrs. Marshall call attention to the difference in the plumage 

 of the sexes of this species, from examples collected and the sex ascertained by themselves. In 

 the female and immature birds the white tips are wanting to the first six primaries, and sometimes 

 to the seventh, while on all but the first two the white streaks are more developed than in the 

 adult male. The casque is lower, and has not the sharp-pointed horn. 



In the male the head, face, and tail become blacker with age. 



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