274 BACKBONED ANIMALS. 
(2. erythrorhynchus) (Fig. 306) is one of the most beautiful 
species. They are fruit-feeders, but occasionally capture 
insects and small 
animals. The eggs 
are laid in hollow. 
trees. 
The Hornbills 
(Bucerotide) -are 
even more remark- 
able than the pre- 
ceding for the size 
of their bill, that in 
some seems almost 
a deformity ; but, 
unwieldy as it ap- 
pears, it is filled 
Fic. ee aa enormous epee ee 
treme (Fig. 307). 
They are confined to Africa and the Eastern islands. 
The great two-horned hornbill* of India attains a 
length of four feet, the 
beak ten inches, and has 
a second deck or ridge, 
thus appearing double. 
The Woodpeckers 
(Picide) have straight 
bills, adapted for ham- Fic. 307.—Section of skull of hornbill 
mering on wood to ob- (Buceros), showing air-cavities. 
* Their nest-building is most remarkable and applies equally to 
African species. A hollow tree is selected, in which the female takes 
her place and forms a nest of feathers, the cavity being immediately 
walled up with mud by the male, leaving only a small orifice for her 
bill. The plaster soon hardens and she is a prisoner, fed by the male 
through the hole until the eggs are laid, hatched, and the young fully 
fedged. The young are perfectly naked at birth (Fig. 308). 
