HABITS OF BIRDS 
is imprisoned by liim while sitting upon the eggs in the hollow 
tree, in which, according to the most trustworthy authorities, 
the male builds up the entrance to the nest with clay. Dr. 
Livingstone was the first person, I believe, who called attention 
to tliis singular habit in the hornbills ; since then many other 
observers have confirmed the fact, both in Africa and India. 
Captain Tickell speaks of it, saying that he ‘saw with his own 
eyes,’ although he previously ‘thought it was a fable.’ The 
Rev. J. Mason, in his work on Burmah, says of the concave 
hornbills, ‘ their nests are constructed in a superior manner of 
clay in the stumps or hollows of old trees. After the female 
has laid five or six eggs, the male bird shuts her entirely in 
with mud except a small hole, where she can only put out her 
head. Here she must sit during her incubation, for if she 
breaks through the enclosure, her life pays the forfeit ; but to 
compensate for the loss of freedom, her spirited mate is ever 
on the alert to gratify his dainty mistress, who compels him 
to bring all her viands unbroken, for if a fig or any fruit be 
injured she will not touch it.’ 
“This remarkable passage at once arrested my attention, 
for doubtless it is the result of careful observation. The point 
to be noticed is the fig-like appearance of the pellet of food 
that the male bird offers to the female, as it would be impossible, 
at the distance the observer must be from the birds, that he 
could distinguish the little yellow-skinned bag from a fig or 
other fruit of about that size. Mr. Wallace says the entrance 
of the nest is stopped up with mud and gummy substances 
Referring to Dr. Livingstone, I find that on -p. 613 , Missionary 
Travels in South Africa^ he says : — ‘ The first time I saw this 
bird was at Kolobeng, where I had gone to the forest for some 
timber. Standing by a tree, a native looked behind me and 
exclaimed, “There is the nest of a Korwe.” I saw a slit only, 
about half-an-inch wide and 3 or 4 in. 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 his arm into 
the hole, and brought out a tockus, or red-beaked hornbill, 
which he killed. 
“‘He informed me that when tlie female enters her nest she 
submits to a real confinement. The male plasters up the 
entrance, leaving only a narrow slit by which to feed his mate, 
and which exactly suits the form of his beak. The female 
313 
