HORNBILLS. 
63 
that the throwing of its body into the water will “ make the river sick,” and 
that “ the only way of getting rid of this is to wash it away to the sea, which can 
only be done by heavy rains and flooding of the river.” These hornbills seem to 
be practically omnivorous, and devour great numbers of beetles, worms, mice, small 
birds, etc. They generally associate in small companies, and when a snake is 
discovered, they come round it, holding their wing stretched out and flapping the 
reptile with it until it is irritated and seizes hold of the feathers, when all the 
birds crowd round it and peck it, until it looses its hold; this manoeuvre being- 
repeated till the snake is dead. If the latter advances, the birds fold both wings 
in front of them, so as to form a shield, thus covering their head and other 
vulnerable parts. Mr. Ayres says that their call-note, coo-coo, can be heard at a 
distance of two miles. The nests are placed in the holes of trees, or in hollows 
formed by three or four branches striking off from the same spot. 
Rhinoceros- The rhinoceros-hornbills form the typical representatives of the 
Hornbills. second subfamily Bacerotince, all of which are more arboreal in their 
habits than the last group, in consequence of which the metatarsus is proportion¬ 
ately shorter, not exceeding the third toe and its claw in length. The subfamily 
may be divided into two sections, according to the form of the tail. The first 
section in which the tail is squared, includes the African trumpeter-hornbills 
(.Bycanistes ), of which the head is figured on p. 61, the members of the present 
genus, as well as several smaller forms, such as Penelopides of the Philippines and 
Celebes, and Lophoceros of Africa; the latter genus containing the smallest 
member of the family, measuring only 15 inches in length. The common 
rhinoceros-hornbill ( Buceros rhinoceros), inhabiting the Malay Peninsula and the 
islands of Sumatra and Borneo, is of large size, measuring nearly 4 feet in length. 
The colour is black, with a slight gloss of steel-blue or dark green; the rump 
and upper tail-coverts being white, as is also the tail, which has a broad bar of 
black just before the tip; while the under surface of the body is black, with the 
exception of the lower abdomen, thighs, and under tail-coverts. The bill has a 
large casque, with the fore-part turned up into a horn-like protuberance, whence 
the bird’s name of rhinoceros. The colour of the bill is whitish yellow, black at 
the base, the casque lake-red, shading off below into orange near the base, which 
is black; and there is also a black line from the side of the nostrils to the fore¬ 
part of the casque. The feet are yellowish green, and the iris deep lake. The 
female resembles the male in colour, but has no black base, and no black median 
line along the side of the casque. In the young birds there is no fully-developed 
casque, but only a small orange-coloured excrescence on the top of the upper 
mandible. In Java another species is found ( B. sylvestris ) with a nearly straight 
casque. In many places this great bird is kept in a state of semi-domestication, 
and Mr. Burbidge writing of one which he saw thus kept in North-Eastern Borneo, 
observes that “ the rhinoceros-hornbill is very often seen in a state of domesticity, 
enjoying at the same time perfect liberty. When very young they are taken from 
the nest, and accommodated with a bit of old cloth in a basket as a bed, being fed 
on rice and soft fruits, until they are strong enough to wander about; they sit on 
their haunches, wheezing and shrieking all day long, and continually clamouring 
for food. Their beauty is about equal to that of a very fat badly-plucked goose. 
