511 



KAMPHASTID^E. 



RAMPHASTID.E. 



642 



similarity, or even approach, to the word Toucan, as has sometimes been 

 asserted, and from whence the trivial name of the genus has been 

 supposed to originate. Neither have I been able to verify another 

 observation which has been advanced respecting these birds, that the 

 bill is compressible between the fingers in the living bird. The bill, 

 notwithstanding the lightness of its substance, is firm, aud capable of 

 grasping an object with much strength. The mode in which Mr. 

 Broderip describes his Toucan as having broken the limbs of the bird 

 which he was about to devour, by 'a strong lateral wrench,' suffi- 

 ciently shows that the bill is not deficient in power. Indeed I gene- 

 rally observe that my bird takes what is offered him rather by the sides 

 than by the point of his bill ; and I suspect that much of the powers 

 of that member are centred in this lateral motion. The serration of 

 the edges also may be supposed to tend to these peculiar powers. The 

 manner in which he composes himself to rest is represented in the 

 accompanying plates. Since the cold weather has commenced, he lias 

 been brought into a room with a fire, and the unusual light seems to have 

 interfered with his general habits ; he does not go to rest as early or as 

 regularly as was his custom ; and he sometimes even feeds at a late 

 hour. During the warmer months however, when he was more free 

 from interruption, his habits were singularly regular. As the dusk 

 of the evening approached, he finished his last meal for the day; took 

 a few turns, as if for exercise after his meal, round the perches of his 

 cage ; and then settled on the highest perch, disposing himself, almost 

 at the moment he alighted on it, in the posture represented, his 

 head drawn in between his shoulders, and his tail turned vertically 

 over his back. 



Toucan at roost ; first ttaje. 



" In tliis posture he generally remained about two hours, in a state 

 between sleeping and waking, his) eyes for the most part closed, but 

 opening on the glighest interruption. At such times he would allow 

 himself to be bandied, and would even take any favourite food that 

 was offered him without altering his posture further than by a gentle 

 turn of the head. He would also suffer his tail to be replaced by the 

 hand in its natural downward posture, and would then immediately 

 return it again to its vertical position. In these movements the tail 

 seemed to turn as if on a hinge that was operated upon by a spring. 

 At the end of about two hours he began gradually to turn his bill 

 over his right shoulder, and to nestle it among the feathers of his 

 back, sometimes concealing it completely within the plumage, at other 

 times having a slight portion of the culmen exposed. At the same 

 time he drooped the feathers of hia wings and those of the thigh- 

 coverts, so as to encompass the legs and feet; and thus nearly assuming 

 the appearance of an oval ball of feathers, he secured himself against 

 all exposure to coM." 



All are now agreed that in a state of nature the Ramphcutidce are 

 omnivorous. 



The incubation of most if not all of this family takes place in the 

 hole* of trees, a habit that was very early known. We fiud Willughby, 

 after quoting Faber for proof that in the structure of their feet, &c., 

 tlie Toucans resemble the Woodpeckers, "to the genus whereof the 

 toucan, as Faber in this place proves, doth undoubtedly belong," con- 

 tinuing thus : "for it not only hath a like situation of toes, but also 

 in like manner hews holes in trees to build its nest, as Fryer Peter 



Alvaysa, and other Indians and Spaniards, who had long lived in 

 America, told Faber for a certain truth ; and Oviedus, iu the forty- 

 third chapter of his summary of the history of the West Indies, pub- 

 lished in Italian, writes, adding that he thinks there is no bird secures 

 her young ones better from the monkeys, which are very noisome to 

 the young of most birds. For when she perceives the approach of 

 those enemies, she so settles herself iu her nest as to put her bill out 

 at the hole, and gives the monkeys such a welcome therewith that 

 they presently pack away, and glad they escape so. From this quality 

 of boring the trees, this bird is by the Spaniards called ' carpintero,' 

 and by the Brazilians ' tacataca,' in imitation, I suppose, of the sound 

 it makes." The feathered structure of the tongue is also there 

 noticed. 



Toucan at roost ; second stage. 



Mr. Gould remarks that the true Toucans, unlike many of the 

 Aracaris, offer no sexual difference iu the colour of the plumage; but 

 the females are rather less than the males in all their proportions. He 

 adds that the young of both genera assume at a very early age the 

 adult colouring; but that their large bills, as might be expected, are 

 not fully developed for a considerable period. 



The colours of the bill, which are generally very vivid during life, 

 become, in many instances, greatly changed and deteriorated by death : 

 this should be borne in mind by those who describe species from dead 

 specimens, especially if they have been a long time preserved. 



In *he ' Monograph ' by Mr. Gould, Professor Owen has given an 

 account of the anatomy of these birds, of which we give the following 

 summary. 



Professor Owen remarks that the organs of digestion in the Toucan 

 present a general simplicity of structure, which accords with its 

 geographical position and power of assimilating both animal and vege- 

 table food, so abundantly provided by nature in a tropical climate. 

 The size of the oesophagus and general width of the intestinal canal 

 correspond to the magnitude of the beak. There is no lateral dilata- 

 tion of the crop, nor is the gizzard so encroached upon by its muscular 

 parietes as to render such a reservoir for the alimentary substances 

 necessary. The proventriculus communicates with the gizzard by a 

 wide aperture. The muscular coat of the gizzard does not exceed 

 half a line in thickness ; the lateral tendons are small, but very distinct. 

 The lining membrane is of a horny texture, and was stained of a deep 

 yellow colour. The pyloric orifice is remarkably contrasted in its 

 diminutive size with the ample entrance to the gizzard ; a structure 

 which facilitates the regurgitntion of the alimentary substances. The 

 description then goes on to state that as the regurgitated morsels 

 have been observed to undergo a second mastication, the digestive 

 processes exhibit in this bird an analogy to that of the Ruminants, 

 and that as the thin parietes of the gizzard of this omnivorous bird 

 are sometimes unequal to the comminution of the food, the utility of 

 the extraordinary developed beak becomes apparent, which thus com- 

 pensates by additional mastication for the absence of the grinding 



