426 
HARPER’S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
long’, witli a superstructure of more than 
half that length. It lias the appearance 
of great weight and strength. The latter 
quality it possesses, hut the former it for¬ 
tunately lacks. Its lightness is due to 
the honeycomb construction of the inte¬ 
rior. 
Returning now to Mrs. Hornbill, it will 
be found that she is apparently contented 
with her lot. The agreement seems to be 
that in consideration of submitting to se¬ 
clusion and assiduously minding her own 
business, her husband .shall feed her the 
choicest morsels whenever she thrusts her 
phenomenal beak out of the aperture left 
for that purpose. Her beak is out all the 
time. That tells the whole pitiful story. 
The result only serves to once moi’e 
point the familiar moral — never set your 
wits against a woman’s, and let her make 
the last condition of a bargain. 
His word is given. The faithful if 
jealous husband never attempts to evade 
his contract. Vainly he labors to fill the 
reservoir to which the gaping beak leads. 
Nor rest by day noi* sleep by night, save 
in furtive winks, does he know. The con¬ 
sequence may be foreseen. He grows 
weak and wan, his head droops, his en¬ 
feebled wings can scarce carry even his 
emaciated body. A cold rain comes, and 
morning dawns to see him stretched life¬ 
less on the ground, deaf even to the awful 
voice of his irate widow. 
Perchance retribution follows, not in 
the guise of a .second husband, but in the 
person of man. Idlene.ss and generous 
living have transformed the recluse into 
a mass of juicy fat and tender, even aro¬ 
matic, flesh ; for she has fed largely on 
spicy fruits. Ruthle.ss inan, led by the 
marvellous discord of her voice, or at¬ 
tracted by the sight of her head, breaks 
away the barrier of mud, squeezes the wid¬ 
ow’s neck, and, lo! the end of the domes¬ 
tic drama —a veritable tragedy. 
Closed up in her cell, the mother bird 
can find no other material for her nest 
than her own feathers. She is a tender 
mother, if not a considerate wife, and there¬ 
fore makes no hesitation about plucking 
herself. Man may honor and admire her 
for this beautiful trait, but it is needless to 
say the contemplation of its results causes 
him no pangs. 
By way of contrast to this tale of do¬ 
mestic woe, let us wander again to the 
New World, where we .shall find another 
horned bird, with a voice hardly less dis¬ 
agreeable than that of the hornbill, but 
which has, combined with shy and retir¬ 
ing manners, a tender heart and benevo¬ 
lent spirit. This is the chauna {Chauna 
cliavaria) of South and Central America. 
The har.sh, discordant voice of this bird 
has earned for it the name of screamer; 
but we all know that the voice of a bene¬ 
factor, as long at least as we need his aid, 
is always sweet. The chauna is about 
the size of a common goose, but has longer 
legs, and consequently a more graceful 
carriage and more active movements. Its 
prevailing color is brown mixed with gray. 
Modest and peace-loving as is the chau¬ 
na, it is nevertheless full of spirit, and will 
gladly defend the weak from the tyranny 
of the .strong. It is fortunately enabled 
to accomplish this by means of an arma¬ 
ment of horns or spurs, placed one on top 
of its head and two on each wing. With 
these it defends its young from the attacks- 
of all enemies, whether birds or reptiles. 
Domesticated, the chauna becomes the 
champion of the poultry-yard, and suc¬ 
cessfully pits itself against the numerous 
winged robbers that infest the parts of 
the world which it inhabits. Its action 
in this matter, unlike that of the other 
guardian birds as yet mentioned, can not 
be ascribed to selfish motives, for its food 
consists entirely of seeds, grapes, and the 
leaves of aquatic plants, and not in any 
case of the enemies of the defenseless crea¬ 
tures which it delights in protecting. 
It was said, in speaking of the honey- 
guide, that its evil ways would not be won¬ 
dered at when it was known that it be¬ 
longed to the cuckoos. It is gratifying 
now to bear witness to the good character 
of another family of birds in sayiiig that 
the kindly spirit of the chauna will seem 
quite in keeping when it is known that it 
belongs to the same order as the cranes 
and storks. 
A cynical Frenchman has said that 
friendshij) is only another form of self¬ 
ishness. Untrue, of course. But not the 
less real is the foundation on which the 
saying was built. Pure disinterestedness 
is very seldom seen. “ The motive ?” de¬ 
mands the old lawyer in David Copper- 
field. Guardianship in birds! The mo¬ 
tive ? Alas! the answer must usuall}^ be, 
ticks, bats. Hies, snakes — a good meal, in 
short. 
But piire disinterestedness is sometimes 
seen. Yes, and if the crane do not plain¬ 
ly exhibit it, we shall vainly search for it. 
