The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1895-06-28
HABITS OF The uas..,.
These Little Feathered Fo,,
Idea OF HON. 'ea

II lks Hav.
Idea of Home. ea .
A curious South African !,
variety OF hornbill know 0 = !, Is
melanoleucus, LIGHT, reeara; ~ foc
a paper by DR.. schonlsndA ~ ] "
bany museum, was read =. u the
meeting of the South Afria reg
sophical society, at Cape T ,,aa y
nesting habits Of this horn bNn, u,
extraordinary that they bavo arg
peatedly referred to by var;os, oeeu
but owing to the difficulty a 81 win = ,
the nests OF the birds, manv d d.t ing i
the earlier accounts are NOT uetail
ut all. 'oucned u]
During the last four years D, =,
iand has examined, he said, NO ' ~
than seven nests altogether W w,. le'
birds belonging to most of thau WIN
birds are often seen in winter !;
numbers in the gardens At c - -
Town, but in the summer thai
only to be met with in nrov; 10y
closely wooded byloofs. and .h,y
due to the fact that thew n ,a,s
places where hollow trees ~. ~
be found. All observers a,,a a,s !,
during incubation the fema,.
prisoner in a kind of cana
entrance to which is closed -
an extent that it has to be b.s N
open before the female can NJ
the nest. In all the cases h. h
seen the nests were built in b,,l]
trees Mrs. Barber had said N
they sometimes made the nest.
tween the crowded stems Of ths
euphorbia; but they could NOT h. \
onciled with some of her Other j.
ments. The birds had appareptlv
preference for any particular trs.
long as it suited their purpose n
essential point for them was that
hollow stem should be suficiarl
large for the female to move about
the nest, and whether there is ons
more entrances, all must be of q
nature that they can be partially
wholly closed up. The female !,
inside, is fed by the male through \
narrow slit left in the material III
which the entrance is closed
through a natural cleft in the wo
In the latter case the main entrance
closed up completely. This NAV u
precautionary measure to protect Il
female during the period of incu
ton.
He questioned the statement whetb
the male built or the female, as |,
ingston stated he had been told 81
native. The female took an essept
part in the plastering up of the I
trance Having described the ne,
which he had seen, he proceeded
state that the female. after going id
the nest, usually began to moult, Il
was sometimes almost naked s.
was usually very fat while in priu
rs the male bird brought her ID
,verv few minutes, As soon as dang
approached, the female bird climb
Up the nest as far as possible swl
rom the entrance and kept perfec
luiet until the danger had passed
,oung behaved in the same ma
Ter, the birds relying for r|
ection on the fact that
lest is not easily recognized
UGH. No doubt if attacked the hon
ill could give good account Of itse
The female is imprisoned for seven
light weeks, certainly for not less thl
tx weeks. The eggs are laid abb
he end of December, or beginning
anuary, and are usually three or 70
n number and vary in size. lie
ertain from minute observation II
he female constructed her own prise
nd left it some time before the you
,ere fully developed. On her leaviI
was plastered up again in the So
tanner, and the female helped
lale feed the young. He concluded
,ating that there was plenty OF SEQ
,r further investigation into the me-
lg habits of the hornbill.-St Jam
azette.