132 LITTLE FOLKS 
that it isn't as great a burden to the bird as it looks, for it is very 
light. You wouldn't think it was any burden if you could see him 
flying about, and hopping from branch to branch, as he is fond of 
doing. 
His voice is not particularly musical, being in fact a sort of 
roar, interspersed with a snapping of his bill together, as if he 
wanted to bite some one's head off. In truth he has the credit of 
having seriously frightened travelers in his native woods. 
What has he such a bill for? Well — the wise men haven't 
quite decided, but it is supposed to be for the purpose of killing 
his prey, for this bird eats not only fruits and vegetable matter, 
but small quadrupeds and birds. The length of this curious fellow 
is about ten inches, and his dress is a modest suit of black and gray. 
But now I must tell you of a very singular performance in the 
Hornbill family when the nest is made and the baby Hornbills are 
hatched out. The nest is made in a hollow tree, and when all is 
ready, and Mamma Hornbill has laid her one egg y she meekly takes 
her place over it, and Papa Hornbill coolly proceeds to plaster up 
the door with mud ! Then she is a prisoner, with only opening 
enough to stick out her bill, and there she stays, not only till the 
baby comes out of the shell, but till it has got its feathers and is 
ready to fly. Meantime her jailor feeds her every day, and she 
gets very fat, it is said. 
Why he should do this nobody knows, whether to keep out 
enemies, or to keep the mother at her work ; but we do know that 
he does it. 
It is said that in India this bird is domesticated, because of 
his fondness for rats and mice, which he kills in great quantities. 
Here's another curious bill, not quite so large as the hornbills, 
but about as odd. It is the Spoonbill. 
This personage carries a bill shaped like a spoon — as you see 
— and about eight inches long. As you might guess from the 
length of his legs, he is a wader, and gets his dinner by fishing 
about in the mud of streams with that convenient bill of his, and 
digging out the reptiles and small fish, and such creatures that 
delight in mud. He is also fond of visiting the seashore, and 
adding to his bill of fare, crabs, shrimps, and other sea food. 
He dresses in white, with a faint tinge of pink. His eyes are 
red and his legs and feet are black. His bill is yellow and black, 
and his length is about thirty-two inches. 
