HOMES OF TOUCANS 



185 



FIG. 47. RED-BILLED TOUCAN 



among the branches ; and to the ear, as their voices rise above 

 all the usual jungle sounds, both in timbre and in insistant 

 reiteration. And yet toucans might well be as mythical as 

 the phoenix or the roc, for all we know about their home 

 life in the top of the jungle. Up to the present time no 

 definite account exists of the finding of the nest or the eggs 

 and young of any species of these birds. In common with 

 many explorers, I frequently have seen these birds enter 

 and leave holes high up in gigantic forest trees and have 

 longed for the opportunity of looking inside, of learning 

 something more of their intimate lives than a glass and a 

 gun could reveal. So when I planned for a half year or 

 more of intensive study in one tropical locality I placed the 

 discovery of the nest of these birds well up on the list of 

 things which I intended to accomplish. 



The excitements, false alarms, disappointments and 

 ultimate successes which marked our effort, would alone fill 

 an entire volume. In the limited area of Bartica District 



