370 
THE WHITE-CRESTED HORNBILL . 
and is hidden by the plumy crown which decorates the head. The tail is very long, and 
is graduated and colored in a very bold manner, each feather being black, except at the 
extreme tips, which are snowy white. The general color of this bird is deep, dull black, 
through which a few very small white feathers protrude at distant intervals ; the tail is black, 
each feather being tipped with white, and the crest is white, with the exception of the black 
shaft and black tip of each feather. 
The noise produced by a flock of Hornbills passing through the air is said to be frightful. 
The constant clattering of their bills with the utterance of loud croaking, and the rush of such 
large bodies through the air, has much the effect of a brisk wind. Their voice is like a blast 
from a bugle. 
The nest of some Hornbills is most singular. £ ‘ The first time I saw one,” says Livingston, 
“was at Kolsberg, when I had gone to the forest for some timber. Standing by a tree, a 
native looked behind me and exclaimed, ‘ there is a nest of a Korwe ! ’ I now saw a slit only 
about a half -inch wide, and three or four inches long, in a slight hollow of the tree. Thinking 
the word Korwe denoted some small animal, I waited with interest to see what he would 
extract. He broke the clay, which surrounded the slit, put in his arm, and pulled out a 
Tockas, or Red-breasted Hornbill. He informed me that when the female enters her nest, she 
submits to real confinement ; the male plasters up the entrance, leaving only a narrow" slit that 
exactly suits the form of his beak, through which to feed his mate. The female makes the 
nest of her own feathers, lays her eggs, hatches them, and remains with the young until they 
are fully fledged. During all this time, which is stated to be fully two or three months, the 
male continues to feed her and the young family. The prisoner generally becomes fat, and is 
esteemed a very dainty morsel by the natives, wdiile the poor slave of a husband gets so lean, 
that on the sudden lowering of the temperature that often occurs after a fall of rain, he is 
benumbed and dies.” 
Dr. Livingston also gives the following interesting anecdote, illustrative of the affection of 
these birds to their mates : ‘‘Near sunset, on the 25th August,” (he writes from Dakomoio 
Island), “ we saw immense flocks of the largest Hornbills (Buceros cristdtus) come here to 
roost on the great trees which skirt the edge of the cliffs ; they leave early in the morning, 
often before sunrise, for their feeding places, coming and going in pairs. They are evidently 
of a loving nature, and strongly attached to each other, the male always nestling close to his 
mate. A fine male fell to the ground from fear of Dr. Kirk’s gun ; it was caught and kept 
on board. The female did not fly off in the morning to feed with the others, but flew around 
the ship, anxiously trying by the plaintive calls, to induce her beloved one to follow her. 
She came again in the evening to repeat the performance. The poor disconsolate captive 
refused to eat, and in five days died of grief, because he could not have her company. No 
internal injury could be detected after death.” 
The Great Homray, or Tw o-horned Hornbill, has been seen five thousand feet above sea 
level, on the Neilgherries and the Himalayas. It is often seen in flocks of twenty. It is 
a silent bird generally, making merely a deep but very loud croak. Hodgson says : ‘ ■ The 
clamor made by a wounded bird is altogether amazing. I cannot liken this vehement vocifer- 
ation to anything but the braying of a mule. Its power is extraordinary, and is the conse- 
quence of an unusually osseous structure of the rings of the trachea. The Homray flies with 
more repeated flaps of the wings than the others, only, in general, sailing just before alighting. 
The noise of its wings could be heard a mile distant. Like the others it builds in holes of 
trees ; the male building the female in and plastering the entrance, as in the case just described. 
Major Trickell has witnessed this operation, and described it with due care of a naturalist. 
Mason, in his work on Burmah, makes the following statement ; “The female must sit during 
her incubation, for, if she breaks through her enclosure, her life pays the forfeit. But to 
compensate for loss of freedom, her spirited mate is ever on the watch to gratify his dainty 
mistress.” 
Mr. Gilbert remarks of this species, that a small sac is placed at the root of the tail, in 
which is a bundle or pencil of short bristles, forming a brush, from whence exudes a yellow, 
oily secretion with which the birds appear to dress their feathers. 
