BED-BELLIED TOUCAN. 131 



The Ash-coloured Parrot is about twenty inches in 

 length. Its plumage is of a hoary, cinereous colour, 

 with naked, white temples, and scarlet tail. The bill is 

 black, the cere white, and the legs are cinereous. 



6. TOUCAN TRIBE. 



These birds are remarkable for the immense size of 

 their bill, and for their tongue being feathered at the 

 edges. They are inhabitants only of South America. 



Red-bellied Toucan. Notwithstanding the formidable 

 appearance of its bill, this is one of the most harmless 

 and gentle of all birds, subsisting upon and preferring 

 fruit and vegetables to all other kinds of food. This 

 enormous bill is so apparently disproportioned to the 

 size of the bird, as to render its flight, in some respects, 

 heavy and difficult It is said of these birds, which 

 usually associate in small flocks of ten or twelve, that 

 when they retire to sleep they place a sentinel, to give 

 alarm, in case of the approach of an enemy. They feed 

 almost wholly on fruit, and, in playfulness, they fre- 

 quently throw this into the air, and catch it in their 

 beak before they swallow it. Their nests are formed 

 in holes of trees, and the females are able to guard the 

 entrance against every enemy. And even if a monkey, 

 the most mischievous of all animals, should offer but a 

 visit of curiosity, she gives him so close a reception that 

 he is glad to scamper away. The Toucans are easily 

 tamed, and in this state will jump about with the utmost 

 familiarity, sometimes in a most laughable manner, and 

 crying with a voice somewhat resembling that of a mag- 

 pie. They are fed nearly in the same manner as parrots, 

 but are more partial to grapes than any other food. The 



