34 THE BEAK. 



small bird. The moment the owner of the Toucan in- 

 troduced his hand with the small bird into the cage, the 

 Toucan, which was on its perch, snatched it with its 

 bill. The poor little bird was dead in an instant, killed 

 by the violence of the squeeze. As soon as it was dead, 

 the Toucan hopped with it still in its bill to another 

 perch, and then placing it with his bill between his 

 right foot and the perch, began to strip off the feathers. 

 When he had plucked away most of them, he broke the 

 bones of the wings and legs (still holding the little bird 

 in the same position), with his bill, taking the limbs 

 therein, and giving at the same time a strong lateral 

 wrench. He continued this work with great dexterity, 

 till he had almost reduced the body to a shapeless 

 mass. He first ate all the soft parts, leaving the larger 

 bones to the last, which seemed to give him more trouble, 

 particularly the beak and legs. 



Beaks of Horn"bills*. 



In the Buceros or Hornbill, the beak is equally mon- 

 strous, and rendered still more hideously disproportioned, 

 by the addition of a large naked bony protuberance on 

 the forehead. As yet no satisfactory explanation has 

 been given for these enormous protuberances. In the 

 Toucan, indeed, it has been suspected that the bill is 

 capable of feeling pleasure or pain, and not altogether 

 insensible, like the horny bills of other birds, and the 

 nails and claws of animals; for the above-mentioned 

 bird was frequently observed to scratch his beak with 

 his foot, which he would not have done, had it not pro- 

 duced an agreeable sensation. 



* Buceros, Violaceus, and Rhinoceros. 



