RHAMPHASTIDAE 45 3 



go in a certain direction and remain at a little distance, hopping 

 from one tree to another. On being followed it goes further ; 

 and so it will guide the way to a nest of bees. When this is 

 reached, it Hies about, but no longer guides ; and then some know- 

 ledge is needed to discover the nest, even when pointed out to 

 within a few trees. I have known this bird, if the man after 

 taking up the direction for a little then turns away, come back and 

 offer to point out another nest in a different part. But if it do 

 not know of two nests, it will remain behind. The difticulty is, 

 that it will point to tame bees in a bark-hive as readily as to 

 those in the forest. This is natural, as the bee is the same ; the 

 bark-hive, ' Musinga ' as it is named, being simply fastened up 

 in a tree and left for the bees to come to. The object the bird 

 lias in view is clearly the young bees. It will guide to nests 

 having no honey, and seems equally delighted if the comb con- 

 taining the grubs be torn out when it is seen pecking at it." 



Fam. XVII. Rhamphastidae. — The Toucans^ are easily recog- 

 nisable by their huge beak, only paralleled by that of the Hornbills, 

 of which some authors have considered them the Neotropical repre- 

 sentatives ; but whereas in the latter this beak is usually sur- 

 mounted by a casque of varying size, in the Toucans it is shaped 

 much as usual, though abnormally developed. It does not seem 

 to interfere with the l3ird's powers of flight or feeding, and indeed 

 the structure of both mandibles is admirably calculated to combine 

 bulk with strength and lightness ; the external walls being so thin 

 and elastic that they are said in some species to be compressible 

 by the fingers, while the inner cavities are filled with a network of 

 bony columns, to which the air has constant access. Moreover, 

 the maxilla is so perfectly hinged to the skull that the utmost 

 ease in mastication is secured, the serrated edges further aiding 

 in the process. In Aidacorham^hus the mandibles are grooved, 

 and Andigena laminirostris has a square basal plate on each side 

 of the culmen. The metatarsi are stout and scutellated on both 

 aspects, the toes are papillose below, the claws sharp and curved. 

 The somewhat weak wings have ten primaries and twelve second- 

 aries ; the square, rounded, or graduated tail of ten rectrices is 

 capable of free vertical motion, and is frequently jerked up over 

 the back. The furcula is U-shaped ; the tongue is long, thin and 

 narrow, with feather-like margins towards the tip ; the nostrils 



' So called either from the note, or Irom two words iiieaninc; " nose " and " bone." 



