THE BEAK. S3 



case the beak is short, and so weak as to be almost soft, 

 but of vast width, proportioned to the size of the body. 

 This may be easily seen in the common House Swallow, 

 but more particularly in the Swift, or large Black Swallow, 

 and Goat-sucker, whose heads may be said to be almost 

 all composed of mouth, so wide and gaping are their 

 large short beaks; consequently when the supply of 

 insects is abundant, they have little more to do than fly 

 with open mouth, and close their beaks upon the objects 

 which cross their flight. This the Swallow does with a 

 sharp clicking jerk, which may be heard by an attentive 

 listener on a calm day, at a considerable distance. 



In the Toucan, the beak forms a most prominent and 

 unsightly feature, being quite a deformity in that other- 

 wise beautiful and graceful bird* ; and were it as heavy 

 in proportion as the bills of other birds, it might prove 

 a very serious weight, and materially impede its flight, 

 if not quite weigh it down to the ground. It is, how- 

 ever, so remarkably light and hollow as to be no incon- 

 venience whatever, so that the bird can fly with such 

 swiftness and certainty as to catch grapes and other 

 fruit thrown to it before they fall to the ground. In 

 its operation, too, it differs from those of other birds; 

 seizing and acting upon the substances within its grasp, 

 by a lateral or side-way rather than an up and down or 

 perpendicular motion. But they do not always confine 

 themselves to fruits, their beaks being equally calculated 

 by their muscular strength for crushing the bones of 

 small birds; and in their native forests they are seen 

 perched on high trees, watching the moment when old 

 birds leave their nests, when down they pounce, and 

 feed on the young ones, and even contest a prize with 

 the monkeys. How skilfully, and at the same time how 

 powerfully, he can use this apparently awkward and 

 cumbrous bill of his, we learn from the way in which a 

 Toucan, which was for some years kept in the Museum 

 of the Zoological Gardens in London, disposed of a 



* See p. 38. 



D 



