The Hornbills are remarkable for their enormous development of beak,
which is long, very wide, compressed, and more or less curved and
notched, and in some species surmounted by a large helmet-like
protuberance. This immense beak is nevertheless very light, being
spongy, as in the Toucans. The Hornbills have in some respects the
bearing of the Crow; this led Bontius to class them among the Crows,
under the name of Indian Crow. They walk with difficulty, and their
flight is clumsy, their favorite position being on a perch at the summit
of lofty trees. Great flocks of these haunt the forests of the warmer
regions of the Old World, especially Africa, India, and the Oceanic
Archipelago. They build their nests in the hollows of trees. They are
omnivorous. The fruits, seeds, and insects of those regions are their
principal food; yet they will not refuse flesh.
In India they are domesticated, their services in destroying rats and
mice being valuable. The plumage of the Hornbill is black or grey, of
various shades; but there is a species described by Dr. Latham and Dr.
Shaw under the name of the Crimson Hornbill, which Mr. Swainson thinks
may prove to be a link between Toucans and Hornbills, and thus combine
the beauty of plumage of the former with the peculiarity of form of the
latter. Their flesh is delicate, especially when fed on aromatic seeds.
Many species are described, varying in size, among which the Rhinoceros
Hornbill is the most worthy of notice. This bird is so named from the
singular protuberance with which its bill is surmounted; this is a
smooth horny helmet, curving upwards from the bill, somewhat resembling
the horn of the rhinoceros. It is a native of India and the islands of
the Indian Ocean.