THE WHITE-CRESTED HORNBILL. 
369 
size, and when it is adnlt the helmet and beak attain their fall proportions. It is said that 
the age of the Hornbill may be known by inspecting the beak, for that in every year a wrinkle 
is added to the number of the furrows that are found on the bill. 
The object of the huge helmet-like appendage is very obscure, but the probability is that 
it may aid the bird in producing the loud roaring cry for which it is so celebrated. When at 
liberty in its native forests, the Hornbill is lively and active, leaping from bough to bough 
witli great lightness, and appearing not to be in the least incommoded by its large beak. It 
ascends the tree by a succession of easy jumps, each of which brings it to a higher branch, 
and when it has attained the very summit of the tree, it stops and pours forth a succession of 
loud roaring sounds, which can be heard at a considerable distance. 
The flight of the Hornbill is rather laborious, and performed by rapid flappings of the 
wings. While in the air the bird has a habit of clattering its great mandibles together, 
which, with the noise of the wings, produces a most weird-like sound in the forest depths, 
which is a fertile source of alarm to the timid traveller. 
The food of the Hornbill seems to consist both of animal and vegetable matters, and 
Lesson remarks that those species which inhabit Africa live on carrion, while those that are 
found in Asia feed on fruits, and that their flesh acquires thereby an agreeable and peculiar 
flavor — something, we may presume, like that of the famous lamb fed upon pistachio nuts. 
Perhaps this statement may be too sweeping, and the birds of both continents may in all 
probability be able to eat both animal and vegetable food. 
At all events, the enormous beak of the Rhinoceros Hornbill, which is one of the Asiatic 
species, appears to be made for the express purpose of destroying animal life, as is now known 
to be the case with the corresponding member of the toucan. It ls hard to think that so for- 
midable a weapon should be given to the Hornbill merely for the purpose of eating fruits ; 
and when we remember that many of the species are acknowledged to be carnivorous, and 
that the toucan employs its huge and similarly formed beak in the destruction of small 
quadrupeds and birds, it is but rational to suppose that the Hornbill acts often in a similar 
fashion. 
One individual, a Concave Hornbill ( Buceros cavatus ), which was kept in captivity, was 
much more attached to animal than vegetable food, and, like the toucan, would seize with 
avidity a dead mouse, and swallow it entire, after squeezing it once or twice between the saw- 
shaped edges of its beak. The Rhinoceros Hornbill is said to be oftentimes extremely 
carnivorous in its habits, and to follow the hunters for the purpose of feeding upon the offal 
of the deer and other game which they may have killed. 
While on the ground, the movements of the Hornbill are rather peculiar, for instead of 
walking soberly along, as might be expected from a bird of its size, it hops along by a suc- 
cession of jumps. It is but seldom seen on the ground, preferring the trunks of trees, which 
its powerful feet are well calculated to clasp firmly. 
The color of the Rhinoceros Hornbill is as follows : The general tint of the body is dusky 
black, changing to grayish- white below. The feathers of the head and neck are long and 
loose, and more like hairs than feathers. The tail is of a grayish- white, with a bold black 
band running across it near the extremity. The enormous bill is generally of a yellowish- 
white color, the upper mandible being of a beautiful red at its base, and the lower man- 
dible black. The helmet is colored with black and white. The length of the bill is about 
ten inches. 
Another species of this curious group is the White-crested Hornbill, a bird which is 
remarkable for the peculiarity from which it derives its name. 
Although not nearly so large as the preceding species, it is a truly handsome bird, and, 
except by an ornithologist, would hardly be recognized as belonging to the same group as the 
Rhinoceros Hornbill. Its beak, although very large in proportion to the rest of the bird, is 
not so prominent a feature as in the other Hornbills, and its beautiful white fan-shaped crest 
takes off much of the grotesque aspect which would otherwise be caused by the large bill. 
Very little of the helmet is visible in this species, as it is of comparatively small dimensions, 
Vol. II. — 47. 
