The HOMRAY, or GREAT TWO-HORNED HORNBILL (_Dichoceros bicornis_), is
principally black; the throat, tips of the upper tail-covers, the lower
tail-covers, and a spot on the wing, the base of the primaries, the
extremities of all the quills and entire tail-feathers, with the exception
of a broad black band near the tip, are white; occasionally the feathers
of the throat and wings have a yellowish shade. The eye is scarlet, the
upper mandible and its appendage red, shading into yellow, the latter
black at its extremity; the lower portion of the beak is yellow, tipped
with red; a dark brown line passes along the centre of the bill, which is
greyish black at its base; the bare skin around the eyes is black, and the
foot deep brown. This species is four feet long, the wing measures from
nineteen to twenty, and the tail seventeen inches; the beak ten inches;
its appendage is seven inches and a half long and three inches and a half
broad.
The Homray frequents the high-standing woods of India, from its extreme
south to the Himalayas, and from the Malabar coast to Assam, Burmah,
and the Malay peninsula; it is also occasionally seen on the island of
Trincomalee.
"This large Hornbill," says Jerdon, "is found in the forests of Malabar,
from the extreme south up to Goa, and also in the Himalayas; I have not
seen it in any other of the forest regions. It is also common in Assam,
Burmah, the Malay peninsula, and in Sumatra. I have seen it but rarely
in the forests of Malabar below the Ghâts. It is generally met with on
the sides of the hills. I have seen it up to five thousand feet on the
eastern slope of the Neilgherries; and on the Himalayas, near Darjeeling,
at a height of from three thousand to five thousand feet. Hodgson states
that it tenants the lower ranges of hills contiguous to the plains. It is
sometimes seen in pairs, occasionally in small flocks, generally keeping
to the thickets and jungle or to lofty trees, but is sometimes to be
found seated on a high tree in an open space; the same writer says that
it seems to prefer the most open and cultivated spots in the wilds it
inhabits, these spots being usually limited to the banks of rivers. This
naturalist must have seen many more of this species than I have done,
for he speaks of twenty to thirty birds being commonly found in the same
vicinity, and six or eight on the same tree. I never saw a flock of more
than five or six, either in the south of India or in the Sikim Himalayas,
and even that very rarely. It is in general rather a silent bird, making
merely a deep but very loud croak. Occasionally, however, when a party are
together, they utter most loud, harsh, and discordant cries. Hodgson says
that the clamour made by a wounded bird is perfectly amazing. 'I cannot,'
says he, 'liken this vehement vociferation to anything but the braying
of a jackass; its power is extraordinary, and is the consequence of an
unusually osseous structure of the rings of the trachea.' The Homray flies
with more repeated flappings of its wings than the other Hornbills, only
in general sailing just before alighting on a tree. The noise of its wings
can be heard more than a mile distant. Like the others, it builds in holes
in large trees; the male builds the female in, by covering the hole where
she incubates with mud (Baker says with its ordure), leaving only room
for her bill to protrude and receive food from his. This, Major Trikell,
whose words I quote, has seen with his own eyes. Mason, in his work on
Burmah, makes the following statement:--'The female must sit during her
incubation, for if she breaks through the enclosure her life pays the
forfeit; but, to compensate for the loss of freedom, her spirited mate
is ever on the watch to gratify his dainty mistress, who compels him to
bring all her viands unbroken, for if a fig or other fruit be injured she
will not touch it.' This account, I must own, I regard as a native story,
and improbable. Fruit forms the only food of this, as of other Indian
Hornbills, and it always seizes it whole, tossing it in the air before
swallowing it, and catching it again in its mouth. Mr. Elliot remarks of
this species that a small sac is placed at the root of the tail, in which
is a bundle or pencil of short bristles, forming a brush, from whence
exudes a yellow oily secretion, with which the birds appear to dress their
white wing-feathers. When first shot the yellow colour comes off the
bill in considerable quantities, and the only parts of the body besides
that are stained with this colour are the white wing-spot, the rump, and
the small crest at the back of the head, this latter but slightly. The
yellow substance continued to exude from the brush long after my prepared
specimen was dry. The Garuda, as this species is also called, is sacred to
Vishnu among the inhabitants of the forests."
[Illustration: THE HOMRAY (_Dichoceros bicornis_).]