just then the curved projection was observed to recede within the tree; and in its place appeared a small dark hole, apparently the entrance to a larger cavity. karl, as caspar had done the moment before, saw this with surprise.
“nest?” repeated caspar, astonished at the shikaree’s statement. “a bird’s nest? is that what you mean, ossy?”
“that just it, sahib. nest of great biggee bird. feringhees him call horneebill.”
“well,” rejoined caspar, not greatly enlightened by ossaroo’s explanation, “that’s very curious. we have seen something like a horn sticking out of the tree, though it looks more like ivory than horn. it may be the bill of a bird; but as to a bird itself, or the nest of one, where is that, pray?”
ossaroo intimated that the nest was inside the tree; and that the bird was on the nest just behind its beak, where it ought to be.
“what! the bird is in that hole where we saw the white thing sticking out? why, it quite filled the hole, and if there’s a bird there, and what we saw be its bill, i have only to say that its bill must be as big as its body—else how can it get out and in through so small an aperture? certainly i see no hole but the one. oh! perhaps the bird is a toucan. i have heard there are some of that sort that can go through any place where they can pass their beaks. is it a toucan, ossaroo?”
ossaroo could not tell what a toucan was, never having heard of such a bird. his ornithological knowledge went no further than to the birds of bengal; and the toucan is found only in america. he stated that the bird in the tree was called by the feringhees a “hornbill,” but it was also known to some as the “rhinoceros bird.” ossaroo added that it was as large as a goose; and that its body was many times thicker than its bill, thick as the latter appeared to be.
“and you say it has its nest inside that hole?” interrogated caspar, pointing to the little round aperture, which did not appear to be over three inches in diameter.
“sure of it, young sahib,” was ossaroo’s reply.
“well, certainly there is some living creature in there, since we have seen it move; and if it be a bird as large as a goose, will you explain to me how it got in, and how it means to get out? there must be a larger entrance on the other side of the tree.”
“no, sahib,” confidently asserted ossaroo; “that you see before your eye—that the only way to de horneebill nest.”
“hurrah for you, ossy! so you mean to say that a bird as large as a goose can go in and out by that hole? why, a sparrow could scarcely squeeze itself through there!”
“horneebill he no goee in, he no goee out. he stay inside till him little chickees ready for leavee nest.”
“come, ossy!” said caspar, in a bantering way; “that story is too good to be true. you don’t expect us to believe all that? what, stay in the nest till the young are ready to leave it! and how then? how will the young ones help their mother out of the scrape? how will they get out themselves: for i suppose they don’t leave the nest till they are pretty well grown? come! good shikaree; let us have no more circumlocution about the matter, but explain all these apparently inexplicable circumstances.”
the shikaree, thus appealed to, proceeded to give the explanation demanded.
the hornbill, he said, when about to bring forth its young, selects a hollow in some tree, just large enough conveniently to hold the nest which it builds, and also its own body. as soon as the nest is constructed and the eggs all laid, the female bird takes her seat upon them, and there remains; not only until the eggs are hatched, but for a long time afterwards—in fact, until the young are nearly fledged and able to take care of themselves. in order that she may be protected during the period of her incubation against weasels, polecats, ichneumons, and all such vermin, a design exhibiting either wonderful instinct or sagacity, is carried into execution by the male. as soon as his mate has squatted upon her eggs, he goes to work at the masonic art; and using his great horned mandibles, first as a hod, and afterwards as a trowel, he walls up the entrance to the nest—leaving an aperture just large enough to be filled up by the beak of the female. the material employed by him for this purpose is a kind of agglutinated mud, which he procures from the neighbouring watercourse or quagmire, and somewhat similar to that used by the common house-swallow for constructing its peculiar nest. when dried, this mud becomes exceedingly hard—bidding defiance to the teeth and claws of all would-be intruders, whether bird or quadruped; and with the horny beak of the old hen projected outward, and quite filling up the aperture, even the slippery tree-snake cannot find room enough to squeeze his body through. the female, thus free from all fear of being molested, quietly continues her incubation!
when ossaroo had got thus far with his explanation, caspar interrupted him with a query.
“what!” said he, “sit all the time—for weeks, i suppose—without ever coming out—without taking an airing? and how does she get her food?”
as caspar put this question, and before ossaroo had time to answer, a noise reached their ears which appeared to proceed from the sky above them. it was a noise well calculated to inspire terror in those who had never before heard it, or did not know what was causing it. it was a sort of fluttering, clattering sound, or rather a series of sounds, resembling the quickly repeated gusts of a violent storm.
the moment ossaroo heard it, he knew what it was; and instead of giving a direct answer to caspar’s question, he simply said—
“wait a bit, sahib. here come old cockee horneebill; he show you how de hen getee her food.”
the words had scarcely passed from the lips of the shikaree, when the cause of that singular noise became known to his companions. the maker of it appeared before them in the form of a great bird, that with a strong flapping of its wings flew past the tree in which they were seated, towards that which contained the nest.
in an instant afterwards, it was seen resting on a spur-like projection of the trunk, just below the aperture; and it needed not ossaroo to tell them that it was the cock hornbill that had there alighted. the large beak—the tip of it resembling that which they had already seen sticking out of the hole, and which was once more visible and in motion—surmounted by an immense helmet-like protuberance, rising upon the crown, and running several inches along the top of the upper mandible, which might have been taken for a second beak—this singular appendage could belong to no other bird than the hornbill.
