Identifier: birdnotes04fore (
find matches)Title:
Bird notesYear:
1902 (
1900s)Authors:
Foreign Bird Club National British Bird and Mule ClubSubjects:
Birds -- Periodicals Birds -- Great Britain PeriodicalsPublisher:
Brighton : Foreign Bird Club : National British Bird and Mule ClubContributing Library:
American Museum of Natural History LibraryDigitizing Sponsor:
Biodiversity Heritage LibraryView Book Page:
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view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.Text Appearing Before Image:^ bird with thebig bill, so I mixed up dried files, ants eggs, andbiscuit with a little potato, in the hope of weaning itfrom its expensive tastes, and was very glad to find ittook to the little cannon balls of mixture I made forit. When it gets weary itself of tossing great lumpsdown its throat, it opens its great bill for you to con-tinue the operation, uttering at the same time shortlittle croaks. This bird never wearies of being petted.It is quite content so long as one is talking to it,stroking it, or playing about with it, and it will throwText Appearing After Image:AFRICAN BLACK HORNBILL. (Sphagolohus atratus-j To face page 2^0. 251 its great head back nearly to its tail for one to strokeits throat. It is certainly a most weird bird with itslong broad bill, and I think it must be the ugliest birdone could wish to see. Except for its soft beautifuleyes, which almost speak, it has not one redeemingpoint. In Wonders of the Bird World, (Dr. BowdlerSharpe) is the following description of the nesling ofthe Hornbills:— Here we find tlie female resorting to the hole ofa tree and laying her eggs, one or two in number,while the male plasters the hole up and takes upon his.shoulders the support of his wife and child. Anythingmore fraught with disastrous consequences to thefamily can scarcely be imagined, for if the poor hard-working husband is shot or otherwise killed the im-prisoned wife and baby run considerable risks ofstarvation. There would seem, however, to be a spiritof co-operation among Hornbills, for even if thefemale cannot free herself from tNote About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.