EXPLANATORY INDEX. 477 



" His enormous and weak bill seems made for the purpose 

 of swallowing bananas \vhole ; how he feeds himself with it 

 in the forest is difficult to guess (see " Banana ") ; and when he 

 hops up and down on his great clattering feet two toes turned 

 forward and two back twisting head and beak right and left 

 (for he cannot well see straight before him) to sea whence the 

 bananas are coming ; or when again, after gorging a couple, he 

 sits gulping and winking, digesting them in serene satisfaction, 

 he is as good a specimen as can be seen of the ludicrous 

 dare I say the intentionally ludicrous? element in nature." 



It is true that in confinement the Toucan will eat little 

 birds, just as a monkey will eat a mouse, but I very much 

 doubt whether either toucan or monkey touches animal food 

 in its native woods. Toucans make great inroads on the 

 plantations of oranges, guavas, and other fruit, but, as they 

 are shot in considerable numbers, the delicacy of their flesh 

 makes amends for their depredations. Water-ton seems to 

 have eaten his Toucans boiled. 



There are many species of Toucan. The Bouradi of Water- 

 ton is Rhamphastos erythrorhynchus, and the Scirou is 

 Rhamphastos Ariel, as shown in the illustration. The 

 Toucanet is Rliampliastos vitellinus. It is an active little 

 bird, uttering its yelping cry either by day or in the evening, 

 and jerking its head about in a most ludicrous fashion. 



TRIBES, NATIVE. The five great tribes are given on p. 237. 

 Taking them in their order, the Waraws, or Guaraons, as 

 Humboldt calls them, are more exclusively aquatic than the 

 others, one great division of them living wholly in lake 

 dwellings built in the stems of the ita or moriche palm. See 

 "JEta." They are also the best canoe makers, and can carve 

 canoes out of tree trunks, some of which are able to carry 

 very large numbers of men. They sell these canoes to other 

 tribes. 



The Arowacks are taller and fairer than the other tribes, 

 averaging from 5 ft. 4 in. to 5 ft. 6 in. in height, and the mixed 

 progeny of Arowack and European is said to be remarkable 



