VI RHAMPHASTIDAE 453 
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 flies 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 difficulty 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 
has 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 1s shaped 
much as usual, though abnormally developed. It does not seem 
to interfere with the bird’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 Auwlacorhamphus 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 
’ 
1 So called either from the note, or from two words meaning ‘‘ nose”’ and ‘‘ bone.’ 
