THE WOODPECKER. 



101 



that contains it It is likely that the beak is 

 only a kind of sheath for this peculiar instru- 

 ment, used by the toucan, not only in making 

 itself a nest, but also in obtaining its provision. 

 Nothing is more certain, than that this bird 

 builds its nest in holes of trees, which have 

 been previously scooped out for this purpose ; 

 and it is not very likely that so feeble a bill 

 could be very serviceable in working upon 

 such hard materials. 



Be this as it will, there is no bird secures 

 its young better from external injury than the 

 toucan. It has not only birds, men, and ser- 

 pents, to guard against, but a numerous tribe 

 of monkeys, still more prying, mischievous, 

 and hungry, than all the rest. The toucan, 

 however, scoops out its nest in the hollow of 

 some trees, leaving only a hole large enough 

 to go in and out at. There it sits, with its 

 great beak, guarding the entrance, and if the 

 monkey venture to offer a visit of curiosity, 

 the toucan gives him such a welcome, that he 

 presently thinks proper to pack off, and is 

 glad to escape with safety. 



This bird is only found in the warm clim- 

 ates of South America, where it is in great 

 request, both for the delicacy of its flesh, 

 which is tender and nourishing, and for the 

 beauty of its plumage, particularly the fea- 

 thers of the breast. The skin of this part the 

 Indians pluck off, and, when dry, glue to their 

 cheeks ; and this they consider as an irresisti- 

 ble addition to their beauty. 1 



i The Rhinoceros Bird is of the order Pica; or Pies, 

 and of the genus, Buceros, consisting of birds of rather 

 large size, and distinguished by the disproportionate 

 forms of their beaks, which are often still further re- 

 markable for some kind of large prominence on the up- 

 per mandible. The most conspicuous species is the 

 Buceros Rhinoceros of Linnaeus, commonly called the 

 rhinoceros bird. 



Its general size is that of a turkey, but with a much 

 more slenderly proportioned body. Its colour is black, 

 with the tail white, crossed by a black bar : the beak is 

 of enormous size, of a lengthened, slightly curved, and 

 pointed shape, and on the upper mandible, towards the 

 base, is an extremely large process, equal in thickness 

 to the bill itself, and turning upwards and backwards in 

 the form of a thick, sharp-pointed horn, somewhat re- 

 sembling the horn of the rhinoceros. The use of this 

 strange proboscis is by some supposed to be that of en- 

 abling the bird more easily to tear out the entrails of its 

 prey ; but others affirm that it is not of a predaceous na- 

 ture, feeding only on vegetable substances. This bird is 

 principally found in the East Indian Islands. 



The Trogons constitute a family of birds, the members 

 of which are peculiar to the hotter regions of America, 

 and of India, and its adjacent islands, Ceylon, Java, 

 Sumatra, &c., one species only having as yet been dis- 

 covered in Africa. Among the most conspicuous of the 

 feathered tribes for beauty and brilliancy of plumage, the 

 trogons stand confessedly pre-eminent. The metallic 

 golden green of some species is of dazzling effulgence; 

 in others less gorgeous: the delicate pencillings of the 

 plumage, and the contrasted hues of deep scarlet, black, 

 green, and brown, produce a rich and beautiful effect. 



CHAP. IV. 



OF THE WOODPECKER, AND ITS AFFINITIES. 



WE now come to the numerous tribe of 

 Woodpeckers : a class easily distinguished 



Nor is their shape and contour unworthy of their dress; 

 were they far less elegantly arrayed they would still be 

 pleasing birds. 



The trogons are zygodactyle, that is, they have their 

 toes in pairs, two before and two behind, like parrots 

 and woodpeckers ; the tarsi are short and feeble, the 

 beak is stout, and the gape wide ; the general contour 

 of the body is full and round, and the head large; the 

 plumage is dense, soft, and deep; the wings are short 

 but pointed, the quill feathers being rigid ; the tail is 

 long, ample, and graduated, its outer feathers decreasing 

 in length ; in some species, and especially in that brilliant 

 bird the resplendent trogon (trogon resplendens, Gould,) 

 the tail-coverts are greatly elongated, so as to form a 

 beautiful pendent plumage of loose wavy feathers. 



Of solitary habits, the trogons (or coroucui) frequent 

 the most secluded portions of dense forests, remote from 

 the abodes of man. For hours together they sit motion- 

 less on some branch, uttering occasionally a plaintive 

 melancholy cry, especially while the female is brooding 

 on her eggs. Indifferent during the day to every object, 

 listless or slumbering on their perch, they take no notice 

 of the presence of an intruder, and may indeed be often 

 so closely approached as to be knocked down by a stick ; 

 the bright glare of the sun obscures their sight, and 

 they wait for evening, the dusk of twilight being their 

 season of activity. 



Fruits, insects and their larvae, constitute their food. 

 Formed, most of them at least, for rapid but not pro- 

 tracted flight, they watch from their perch the insects 

 flitting by, and dart after them with surprising velocity, 

 returning after their short chase to the same point of 

 observation. Some, however, are almost exclusively 

 frugivorous; we allude more especially to those whose 

 flowing plumes impede the freedom of their flight; such 

 seek for fruits and berries. Many species are certainly 

 migratory. M. Natterer observes, respecting the pavo- 

 nine trogon, which, in great numbers, inhabits, 

 during a certain season of the year, the high woods 

 along the upper part of the Amazon and Rio Negro, 

 that he found the contents of its stomach to consist 

 principally of the fruit of a certain species of palm, and 

 that it arrives in those districts when its favourite food 

 is ripe, but that when the trees no longer yield an ade- 

 quate supply, it retires to other districts. 



Like the parrots and woodpeckers, the trogons breed 

 in the hollows of decayed trees, the eggs being deposited 

 on a bed of wood-dust, the work of insects; they are 

 three or four in number, and white. The young, when 

 first hatched, are totally destitute of feathers, which do 

 not begin to make their appearance for two or three 

 days; and their head and beak appear to be dispro- 

 portionately large. They are said to rear two broods in 

 :he year. 



The American trogons have their beak of moderate 

 size, with serrated (or saw-like) edges, and furnished 

 at its base with bristles ; the upper surface (of the 

 males at least) is of a rich metallic green, the under 

 mrts being more or less universally scarlet or rich 

 ellow. The outer tail-feathers in the majority of the 

 species are more or less barred with black and white. 



In the Indian trogons the beak is larger and stouter, 

 with smooth edges, having a tooth near the tip of the 

 ipper mandible. The eyes are encircled by a large 

 bare space of richly-coloured skin; the upper surface 



