THE BIRDS OF SINGAPORE ISLAKD 
females of some species actually moult their quills during iheir 
confinement and grow others and also of liow each meal 
brought by the male for his mate is enclosed in a tough 
membranous bag. 
Some of the details concerning the domestic life of the 
bornbills arc so queer that it is quite easy to understand how 
it was that the early observ^ers had considerable difficulty in 
getting stay-at-home naturalists to believe their narratives! 
The food consists in the main of berries and fruit but small 
living animals are also taken. 
Three spedes of hornbill have been recorded from Singa- 
pore, the rhiuoceros hornbill (Buceras yhinocorns), the solid- 
casqiied hornbill {Rhmopiax v'tgil), and a smaller black and 
white species {Atithracoceros convexus), about the size of a 
raven. 
It is difficult to decide as to how much reliance can be 
placed on the records of the first two species for there is little 
country in Singapore suited to their requirements: but al- 
though we ourselves have not yet seen even the third species on 
the island there is no reason why it should not be found here, 
for it is less of a forest dweller than the others and is common 
not only in Johorc, just across the narrow strait of water, but 
also in the Dutcb Islands to the south. 
