A Hornbill Called Harold is a short story by Ruskin Bond. This story is often covered in the Grandfather’s Private Zoo series. Ruskin’s grandfather is an animal lover and is in the habit of keeping a collection of animals and birds at his home. Harold was the name of a hornbill bird. The bird has, in particular, a long beak. Coming to the story, Harold’s mother like many other hornbills was a careful and obedient wife. And his father too was an easy-going person. There was a Dhak tree in the garden of grandfather. In January, when Dhak tree was about to burst into flame-red blossom, Harold’s father took his wife to a hole in the trunk of that tree. Taking their wives to that tree was a kind of tradition followed by hornbills, generation after generation. Harold’s father had shut his wife in that hole and covered the hole from outside with mud, sticks and dung. He kept a tiny hole in it for chatting and breathing. Soon, Harold was born. As he grew bigger in size, space for two be...
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