HO.MKS OI' 'I'orCANS 2.0T 



Tlie eyes, at this sta<4'e, are liai'dly ()i)eii, l)eiii<>' mere wa- 

 tery slits. Tlie cutting e(l<4'e of tlie inandihles is sti"ai<4ht for 

 tliree-fourtlis of tlie entire len«^tli, when it eui'ves abruptly 

 downward. This is \vv\ utdike tlie t^i'adual downward curve 

 alon^- the entii'e U'li^L'th of Ihc niandihlc which is sliown in 

 the hill of the old bird. 



One of the y()un<>' toucans was kept for two weeks, until 

 the feathei's had broken well out of theii- sheaths. Another 

 year, when the intermediate sta<>es are obtained, both of 

 embryos and flcdohnos, wc may hope to <>lean some real 

 li<^ht on the ancestry of these remai-kable bii-ds. 



SUJ.l'li L' H-AXD- W lilTE- BREASTED TOUCAN 



lilt (I III pit a.s'fos vitellinus 



Mj^ experience with the nesting history of this splendid 

 toucan, the fifth and last species which we observed, was 

 rather an anti-climax to the success which crowned our work 

 with the preceding species. 



I was in the nu'dst of the jungle on the 19th day of 

 JNIay, watching a yellow-billed jacamar hawking after in- 

 sects from a monkey-ladder, when my glance went upward 

 to a patch of sky across the brilliant sunshine of which a 

 deluge of rain drops seemed to be ])ouring. Another glance 

 told me it was a cloud of winged ants, and soon I saw the 

 sharply defined limits of the swarm, myriads upon myriads 

 of the insects drifting like motes through the upper reaches 

 of the jungle. 



My ear was next assailed by a subdued, raucous sound, 

 a sound strangly familiar. It was some minutes before I 

 coidd recall where I had heard this, but at last the memory 

 of the two young toucans, which we had kept at Kalacoon, 

 came vividly to mind. Two weeks before, they had sriven 

 us no peace and none of us was likely to forget that irritat- 

 ing eruption of sound which scarcely ceased day or nioht. 

 Another voice now joined in and I knew I was listening to 



