LAUGHING-JACK ASS.
Frequently known as the Settler's Clock.
"The nest," he writes, "is always built in the hollow of a large tree—the hollow, be it noted, being always due to disease of the tree or the ravages of termites, not to the personal labours of the birds. The bottom of this cavity is often plugged by a termites' nest and accumulation of decayed wood, and on the upper surface of this is made the nest, a very rough-and-ready structure, composed simply of the feathers of the female. The hollow of the tree communicates with the exterior air by means of a long aperture, which, just before the period of incubation, is closed up almost entirely by the male, simply leaving a long slit open, up and down which the beak of the enclosed female can move. The substance used in thus closing the aperture closely resembles some vegetable resin, and is probably composed of a gastric secretion, combined with the woody fragments of fruit. It should be noticed that this slit is always in close proximity to the nest, so that the female can easily protrude her beak for food without moving from her sitting position. During incubation the male bird supplies the female with food in the form of pellets of fruit, seeds, insects, portions of reptiles, etc., the pellets being enclosed each in a skin of rubber-like consistency. While feeding the female, the male clings to the bark of the tree, or sits on a branch if conveniently near, and jerks these pellets into the gaping beak of the hen, two to four pellets forming a meal. During mastication (for it is a mistake to suppose that the hornbills always bolt their food entire) some fragments of the pellets fall to the ground, and seeds which these fragments may contain take root, germinate, and sprout, and the natives can judge approximately of the date of incubation by the age of the seedlings. When these are four-leaved, the eggs have been hatched out for two or three weeks. At this stage, though not always so early, the mother bird leaves the nest, breaking down the gluey substance with her beak to effect an exit; having left the nest, the aperture through which she left is carefully closed up again, leaving the slit as before, and now both male and female devote their energies to feeding the young birds, which in course of time follow the example of their mother and leave their place of imprisonment. It is more than probable that this gluing up first of the mother bird and her eggs and afterwards of the nestlings alone is solely a means of protection against predacious carnivora....
Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.] [Parson's Green.
CRESTED HORNBILL.
The Hornbills derive their name from the great size of the bill.
"The nesting-season is during May and June, and it is noteworthy that the birds, if undisturbed, return to the same nesting-place every year. The saplings at the foot of the tree, sprung from seeds dropped in the first year of paring, afford signs to the natives of the number of years during which the tree has been occupied. If during paring or incubation the female or female and young are destroyed, the male takes to himself another mate, and repairs to the same nesting-place; if, however, the male and female are destroyed, the nest is never reoccupied by other pairs. An interesting incident was observed while on Mount Dulit. Espying on a tree the external signs of a hornbill's nest, and a male rhinoceros perched close by, I shot the male, and while waiting for my Dyak collectors to make a ladder up the tree to secure the female, I observed several young male birds fly to the nest and assiduously ply the bereaved widow with food, a fact which seems to indicate a competition in the matrimonial market of the bird-world as severe as that among human beings. It is no easy matter to procure embryos or nestlings of hornbills, for the natives are inordinately fond of both as articles of diet, and, further, are always anxious to secure the tail-feathers of the adults to adorn their war-coats and hats.
"The native method of catching the female during incubation is ingenious, though decidedly brutal. The tree is scaled, the resin-like substance is broken away, and the frightened bird flies from her nest up the hollow trunk of the tree, but is ignominiously brought down by means of a thorny stick (the thorns point downward), which is thrust after and twisted about until a firm grip in her plumage is obtained. The Dyaks, never very faithful observers of nature, believe that the female is shut up by the male, so that after hatching her eggs she may die, the maggots in her putrefying body affording food for the young. One very curious habit of the rhinoceros-hornbill which I have not hitherto seen noted is the rapid jumping up and down on a branch with both feet together. This jumping motion is imitated by the Kyans and Dyaks in their dances, the figure being known to the Kyans as 'wan blingong.'"
