HORNBILLS 
The Abyssinian ground hornbill seals his mate in a hollow tree in the 
nesting season. The male hornbill runs himself ragged during the two 
months of his mate’s incarceration, to provide her and the little ones with 
food, which he passes in through a slit left for the purpose. Inside the tree 
the female lays her eggs and hatches them. The young are born naked and 
helpless, and the mother bird cares for them until they are nearly or entirely 
fledged. Then the barrier is broken down, and the female, who has under¬ 
gone a complete moult, emerges in the pink of condition. The male is most 
conscientious in supplying his mate with food, and it is said that if he dies 
during this time from overwork or other causes, another male will come to 
take his place. This imprisonment protects the mother and her young from 
snakes and genets, the hereditary enemies of the hornbills. 
These black, turkey-like birds are usually found walking solemnly in 
pairs about dry swamps. Sometimes parties of twenty or more are seen in 
the early morning, feeding in a clearing. They are top-heavy in appearance 
because of their great bills, but in reality these are exceedingly light, being 
made of a strong but highly porous substance. The hornbills’ diet consists 
of frogs, reptiles and grasshoppers. At night these birds roost in trees. 
Their flight is slow and heavy, and they seldom fly more than a few hundred 
yards at a time. 
As the hornbills stray about the marshes, they frequently utter their 
curious cry, a deep sonorous grunt on one note, coo-coo-coo. The male calls 
first, and the female immediately replies with the same coo-coo, somewhat 
higher in pitch. They continue this calling for five or ten minutes, seem¬ 
ingly to keep track of one another when concealed among the rushes. 
The hunters in some African regions use the head and neck of a slain 
hornbill as a supposed aid in stalking. Treated with the proper “medicine,” 
they are attached to a hunter’s forehead. The hunter then moves in a crouch¬ 
ing position, giving an imitation of a hornbill. 
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