366 THE FEATHERED TRIBES. 



and tender membrane becomes nearl}' black ; as soon as it is cut away, nothing remains 

 but the outer horn, red and yellow, and now become transjDarent. The imder mandible 

 must undergo the same operation. Great care must be taken, and the knife used ver}'' 

 cautiously, when you are cutting through the different parts close to where t"he bill joins 

 the head; if j-ou cut away too much, the bill drops off; if you press too hard, the knife 

 comes through the liorn ; if you leave too great a portion of the membrane, it appears 

 through the horn; and by becoming black when dried, makes the horn appear black also, 

 and has a bad effect ; judgment, caution, skill, and practice, will ensure success. 



" Tou have now cleai'ed the bill of all those bodies which are the cause of its apparent 

 fading; for these bodies dry in death, and become quite discoloured, and appear so 

 through the horn; and reviewing the bill in this state, you conclude that its former 

 bright colours arc lost. 



" Something stiU remains to be done. You have rendered the bill transj^arent by the 

 operation, and that transparency must be done away to make it appear perfectly natural. 

 Pound some clean chalk, and give it enough water till it be of the consistency of tar ; 

 add a prejjaration of gum arable to make it adhesive ; then take a camel-hair brush, and 

 give the insides of both mandibles a coat ; apply a second when the first is drj', then 

 another, and a fourth to finish all. The gum arable will prevent the challi from cracking 

 and falling off. If you remember, there is a little sjDace of transparent white in the lower 

 mandible, which originally appeared blue, but which became transjjarent white as soon as 

 the thin piece of blue skin was cut away ; this must be painted blue inside. When all 

 this is accomplished, the bill will please 5^ou ; it will appear in its original colours." 



In reference to the Double-collared Aracari, of which we give an engraving, Mr. 

 Goidd says, " The Messrs. Sturm state that the yellow crescent is only found on the 

 breast of the females, and that the male is entirely devoid of it ; but I suspect that this 

 is not always the case, as it is very conspicuous in one of the specimens of the British 

 Museum, which I have no doubt is that of a male." We give an engraving, also, of the 

 Saffron-coloured Hill Toucan. 



THE PLAl^TAIN EATERS.* 



]Mr. Swainson raises this group of birds to the rank of a family. Tlicir food is entirely 

 vegetable, and of the most tender and dehoate description. Their bill is sliort and com- 

 pressed ; the tongue is short and pointed ; the wings are moderate ; so also is the tail ; 

 the feet are strong ; the lateral toes are unequal, the inner shortest ; the claws arc slender 

 and slightly curved. 



The Chilian Plant-cutter is nearly the size of a qiuiil. The colour is an obscure gray 

 on the back, rather brighter on the belly ; the points of the quills and of flie tail are 

 black. The sound of its voice is hoarse and intcrru^jted. It feeds on plants, but 

 previously has the destructive habit of cutting them off close to the root, and often cuts 

 off caprlciousljr a quantity of them, without touching them any further. For tliis reason 

 the peasants persecute tliis species, and carrj' on agaiust it a continual war ; wliile the 

 children -wlio destroy the eggs of these birds are rewarded. A defence is provided in tlic 

 nest being built in obscure and but little frequented places ; but notwithstanding tliis, 

 the numbers of this plant-destroyer are considerably diminished. "I do not know," says 

 Molina, " whether this is because a price is set on its head, or on account of its 

 naturally small degree of fecundity." 



Tlie ('olios t shoidd also be noticed. 'I'hc plumage of the species is soli and silky, und 

 the colour generally sombre, whence they are called, at the Cape, mouse-birds. Africa 

 and the East Indies are the localities in wliich they are ionwd : llie Cvlim riridi-i of 



• Masophagida;, t Colinn'. 



