42 Some Toucans, 



"and were shaking the dew from their feathers and drying themselves 



"in the sunshine. Brilliant green Kingfishers Tyrants Hangnests... 



" .. . .Uliio-wm.m-d L.o\ci)ii<ls ... .little pale grey Doves, ran along the paths, 

 " anc then six large birds flew, one behind the other, from the top of 

 " f\ liigli tree, just acro.ss tlic valley an I into another tree just over our 

 ■ heads. Ves ! they ueie Toucans, there was no mistaking them with 

 "itheir long bills pointing downwards. At once hunger and discomfort 

 " were forgotten and 1 v\as glail ihat circumstances had caused us 

 " to start so early that morning ; but what a different flight they had 

 " io what I imagined ! In a cage one thinks them .somewhat clumsy, 

 " but there was no clumsiness in the graceflil flight across the 

 "Valley, and at the same time it was unlike that of anv other 

 ■".bird How 1 feasted iny eyes on them as they gamboled among 

 *' the branches of the great tiej> above us. I say gamboled, for 

 " that is what they were doing, chasing each other from branch 

 " to branch, and snapping their beaks and making a peculiar rattling 

 " nois'.; in their throats. One would throw a fruit into the air, and 

 "'before it could catch it again,' another would seize it with- 

 "'Dul any intention of swallowing it, but pass it on like boy^ 

 "'would a ball. I have never seen any other birds play together likq 

 "a number of Toucans will, and on many occasions since, I have 

 " watched them doing the same thing. 



" These birds are also high fliers, and, although they never take 

 ■"a long flight at one time, they generally pass along well above the 

 " tops of the forest trees. They rise in the air, and come down 

 "where they intend settling with a long swoop. The wings look par- 

 "(ticularly short when flying, and bills conspicuous. They go in small 

 ■" flocks straggling one behind the other, the older birds (judging ')y the 

 " Jength of bill), taking the lead. A,s a rule, they are not early bird;^" 

 "at getting up m the mornings, and are late to retire of an evening. 

 " J have often seen them a!)i)ut when it was nearly dark. During th» 

 "hot hours of the day they retire to the shady depths of the forest, 

 ""and are never seen. Those of the genus Rha/ii/ii/ui.^tus are dwellers 

 "" in the highest trees ; while Plcrorr/pssiis may be found in more open 

 " spaces, and often in banana plantations round human habitations. On 

 "lone occasion I saw ,v Ptcioglossiis on the ground eating a fallen 

 'banana, but a Hharnphasius never. Then there are the little t.reen 

 " Toucans,* Autacorhumpiis. which may be said to live among the under- 

 " (growth of the forests, and are never seen in trees. Tht^se birds seem 

 " to b.; solitary, for 1 ne\'er saw even a pair together. Unless you 

 "Jiappen to see them settle, it is most difficult to detect them in the 

 ^'iforests, for, unlike other Toucans they will sit motionless for 'a long 

 ■" lime. Often 1 have had them pointed out within seven fir eight 

 "'yards of me, and could not detect them sometimes before my gu;de 

 ""'lost all patience. 



*Most charming aviary birds. — Ed. 



