The above three kingfishers are among the commonest birds of India. There are several other species of more restricted distribution; but as these are only common locally, I have not included them in this work. The reader should experience no difficulty in identifying them with the aid of the descriptions in the _Fauna of British India_. (Illus. B. D., p. 104; also B. P., p. 4.)
These include some of the strangest forms in nature. They are often erroneously called Toucans by Anglo-Indians. Toucans do not occur in India. Hornbills are characterised by the enormous development of the bill. I have elsewhere described the largest of the hornbills as follows: _Dichoceros bicornis_ is "nearly 4-1/2 feet in length. The body is only 14 inches long, being an insignificant part of the bird, a mere connecting link between the massive beak and the great loosely inserted tail. The beak is nearly a foot in length, and is rendered more conspicuous than it would otherwise be by a structure known as a casque. This is a horny excrescence nearly as large as the bill, which causes the bird to look as though it were wearing a hat, which it had placed for a joke on its beak rather than its head. The eye is red, and the upper lid is fringed with eyelashes which add still further to the oddity of the bird's appearance."
The nesting habits of these birds are curious. They nestle in holes in trees. When the eggs are laid the hen goes into the hole, the entrance to which is plastered up by the cock and hen until the orifice is only just large enough to allow of the insertion of the beak. Thus the hen remains a voluntary prisoner until the young are ready to leave the nest, the cock bringing food to her.
The great majority of hornbills are confined to the large forests, and so cannot be called common birds. Two of the smaller species, however, are more widely distributed. (Illus. F. III., p. 140.)
121. _Lophoceros birostris_: The Common Grey Hornbill. (F. 1062), (J. 144), (IV, but with the tail a foot long.)
A large brownish-grey bird, darkest on the sides of the head and palest on the lower parts. The bill, which has a small casque or excrescence on top, is blackish and 4 inches long. It is a tree-haunting species. Its cry is very characteristic. Its flight is laboured, consisting of "alternate flappings and sailings," like that of the tree-pie.