HOMES OF TOUCANS 203 



Occasionally an e<>"^' is cracked or a nestling is lamed, but 

 usually they are in perfect condition. 



So in the ])resent case, after falling IVoni a height of 

 fifty feet, knocking and hanging around a deep cavity and 

 at the last rebound being flung almost out of the entrance, 

 the nestling toucans were (juite unharmed. Never foi- an 

 instant did they cease their cries for food. 'I'his ke])t up 

 all day and at intervals throughout the night, l-'ioiii four 

 o'clock in the morning it was unceasing, and we had to ban- 

 ish the young birds to a distance in order to work without 

 distraction. Only the brain-fever bird of India excels the 

 hunger call of a young toucan in sheer maddening, iri-itating 

 reiteration. It was a never-varying, raucous auiniuuki 

 auiiuuuki auuvunk! auuuulx! repeated over and over. When 

 food was given the harsh cry was broken into series of more 

 liquid gurgles. Then followed a moment of silence as the 

 beakful of berries was swallowed, and the next instant — 

 auuuiiuk! auuuuiik! began again. 



If one of the honrly feedings was missed, the young 

 toucans went into fits of rage and flung themselves about, 

 biting one another or the lining of the artificial nest. Their 

 usual position was resting on the heel-pads w^ith the feet and 

 toes held up helplessly in mid-air, the wings dangling at the 

 sides, the back humped and the bill pointing forward. jNIost 

 absurd was the tail, as innocent of feathers as the rest of the 

 bird, which was slanted upward and forward until it fairly 

 touched the back. When disturbed and nudged, the beak 

 was opened, raised oblicjuely, and re])eatedly stabbed up- 

 ward with the blind confidence that food would be forth- 

 coming from exactly that ])oint in all space. Simultane- 

 ously, the tail w^agged vigorously. It is easy to describe the 

 separate motions. It is (piite impossible to convey the weird 

 nnbirdlike effect of the whole performance. 



The helpless condition of the feet was the most inex- 

 plicable thing about these birds. They invariably rested on 

 the hind part of the body and on the two heel-pads, a tri- 



