208 BILL OF THE TOUCANS. 



The rudely serrated edges are a little firmer than 

 the other parts, but still they could not injure any 

 hut a very soft animal. 



The tongue is stiff and cartilaginous toward the 

 point, and for some distance pectinated on each 

 side with stiff cartilaginous fibres, which give it 

 something the appearance of a feather. 



From its structure we may readily conclude that 

 a bill of this description can be little more than a 

 prehensile instrument, unfit for breaking a hard 

 substance, or cutting a tough one. It seems, in- 

 deed, to be a sort of mortar, in which soft substances 

 are in so far pounded by the action of the curious 

 tongue, as that they can be swallowed. Insects, 

 probably the naked and the more tender shelled 

 mollusca, and the eggs and callow young of little 

 birds, are the food of these birds ; in search of 

 which they hop about the trees, and though their 

 wings are rather short, they fly tolerably well. The 

 two genera are not very different in their food, or 

 in their other habits ; but besides the difference in 

 the size of the bills, there is a remarkable differ- 

 ence in colour, which runs through all the species. 

 The prevailing character of the true toucans is black, 

 relieved with brighter tints on the throat, breast, 



