Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-06-21
HABITS OF THE HoRNBlLL.
These Little Feathered Folks Have Great
Idea of Home.

Idea of Home.
A curious South African bird is the
variety Of hornbill known as Tockus me-
lanoleucus, LIGHT, paper on which by
DR.. Secondhand Of the Albany museum was
read at a recent meeting Of tho South
African Philosophical society az Cape
Town. The nesting habits Of this horn
blli are SC extraordinary that they have
been repeatedly referred to by various
writers, but owing to the difficulty OF
finding the nests Of the birds many de-
tails Of the earlier accounts are not quite
correct, while others are not touched
upon at all.
During the last four years DR.. Schon-
land has examined, he said, no fewer
than seven nests altogether, with the
birds belonging to most of them. The
birds are often seen in winter in large
numbers in the gardens at Graham S
Town, but in the summer they are only
to be met with i'll proximity to closely
wooded kylOOfs, and this is due to the
fact that they nest i'll places where hollow
trees are to be found. All observers
agree that during incubation the female
is prisoner in a kind Of cage, the en-
trance to which is closed to such an ex-
tent that it has to be broken open before
the female can leave the nest. In all the
cases he had seen the nests were built in
hollow trees Mrs. Barber had said that
they sometimes made the nest between
the crowded stems of the tall euphorbia,
but that could not be reconciled with
some Of her other statements. The birds
had apparently no preference for any
particular trees so long as it suited their
purpose. The essential point for them
was that the hollow stem should be suf-
ficiently large for the female to move
about in the nest, and, whether there is
one or more entrances, all must be of
snch nature that they can be partially
OF wholly closed up. The female, once
inside, is fed by the male through the
narrow slit left in the material with
which the entrance is closed or through
a natural cleft in the wood. In the lat
ter case the main entrance is closed up
completely. This may be precautionary
measure to protect the female during the
season of incubation.
He questioned the statement whether
the male built or the female, as Living
stone stated be had been told by native.
The female took an essential part in the
plastering up Of the entrance Having
described the nests which he had seen,
he proceeded to state that the female,
after going into the nest, usually began
to molt, and was sometimes almost
naked She was usually very fat while
in prison, as the male bird brought her
food every few minutes. As soon as dan
ger approached, the female bird climbed
up the nest as far as possible away from
the entrance and kept perfectly quiet
until the danger had passed. The young
relying for protection ON the fact that
the nest is not easily recognized as such.
No doubt if attacked the hornbill could
give good account Of itself. The female
is imprisoned for seven or eight weeks,
certainly for not less than six weeks.
The eggs are laid about the end of De-
cember or beginning Of January, and
are usually three or four in number and
vary in size He felt certain from min
ute observation that the female con-
structed her own prison, and left it some
time before the young were fully de-
veloped. On her leaving it was plastered
up again in the same manner, and the
female helped the male feed the young.
He concluded by stating that there was
plenty Of scope for further investigation
into the nesting habits of the hornbill
st. James Gazette. ..- --