IN THE ORDER STREPITORES. 81 



but reduced to a mere tuft in others. They are birds of gor- 

 geous colouring, and peculiar in the disposition of their tints: 

 the true toucans being chiefly black, with large masses of 

 crimson, white, or yellow (or very rarely faint blue), on the 

 breast or below, and especially beneath the tail, where it is 

 rendered conspicuous by the habitual elevation of the latter ; 

 there is often, also, a band of bright colouring across the rump, 

 and generally a gorget of one or more different hues contrasting 

 with and bounding the mass of colouring on the forepart of 

 the breast : the aricaris differ in having the upper parts chief- 

 ly green, of various degrees of brightness, and are in general 

 rather more variegated : in these the sexes also differ, the fe- 

 male being chestnut-rufous where the male is black ; whereas 

 the male and female toucan present only a trivial disparity of 

 size: the groovebills (Aulacorhynchus, Gould), which con- 

 stitute a sub-genus of aricaris, have the ground colour vivid 

 green. In all the young possess the gorgeous livery of the 

 adult, and are at first sight chiefly distinguishable by their 

 smaller beaks. Azara remarks, that he has often observed 

 that these, when brought up tame, underwent a moult when 

 about two or three months old : at which time there can be 

 little doubt, from analogy, that the primaries are shed. Le- 

 vaillant and others have considered the relation which the 

 aricaris bear to the toucans, to be similar to that which the 

 magpies and jays hold to the crows and ravens. 



These birds breed in the hollows of decayed trees, produc- 

 ing (in every known instance) two delicately white eggs, of a 

 nearly spherical form : the young recurve their tails upon 

 the back while in the nest. They are of a social disposition, 

 small flocks of tenor a dozen being commonly seen together; 

 different species of them mingling in society. They are shy 

 of approach, more particularly the larger toucans which ge- 

 nerally perch on the higher branches of lofty trees, where 

 they skip from bough to bough with the most lightsome agi- 

 lity ; or sit, with invariably the beak turned towards the wind. 

 They fly rapidly, but evidently with much exertion, and with 

 difficulty against the wind ; at a mean height, and always in 

 a straight line ; flapping their wings at intervals, and with 

 some noise ; and carrying the beak elevated above the level 

 of the body, with the tail overlying the back. On the ground 

 they are rarely seen, where they advance by oblique hops, 

 and rather awkwardly. They are very fond of washing. In- 

 dividuals are often noticed perched upon high trees, watching 

 the moment at which other birds leave their nests, on which 

 they instantly pounce to feed on the eggs or young, some- 

 times even contesting a prize with the monkeys. The ex 



