TOi/CANS. BIRDS. 



373 



certain air of gravity, but this is vastly increased by 

 the attitude assumed by them in repose. When they 

 perch quietly, they puff out their plumage until they 

 look almost like a round ball of feathers ; at the same 

 time, the tail is thrown up over the back, the head is 

 drawn back, and the enormous bill laid sometimes to 

 one side, sometimes to the other, or moved from side 

 to side, and raised and depressed iu a mariner resem- 

 bling so much the gesticulations of an orator addressing 

 a numerous assembly, says Lome'nie, that, coupled with 

 the serious aspect of the birds, it has obtained for them, 

 trom the French Creoles in Guiana, the name of Oiseaux 

 pre'cheurs, or "preaching birds." They breed in the 

 holes of trees, usually taking possession of such as have 

 been occupied and enlarged by the woodpeckers. Here 

 they lay two eggs of a white colour and roundish form. 



THE BED-BREASTED TOUCAN (Rhamphastos dico- 

 lorus) Plate 16, fig. 55 which measures about eighteen 

 inches in length, has the bill dark olive- green, with a 

 yellowish-white band at the base ; the plumage or the 

 back, tail, and wings, black ; the throat, and upper part 

 of the breast, orange-yellow, bordered beneath with 

 yellow ; the lower part of the breast and the rump red ; 

 and the belly and legs black. This is a common 

 species in Brazil and Guiana. 



THE COLLAEED TOUCAN (Rhamphastos torquatus} 

 is of the same size as the preceding species, and like 

 it has the plumage of the upper surface black ; but the 

 neck is surrounded by a red collar. The front of the 

 neck is nearly white, spotted and streaked with red 

 and black, the belly is green, and the vent and lower 

 tail-coverts red. The bill in this species has the upper 

 mandible yellowish-white, and the lower one black. 

 This bird is an inhabitant of Mexico, where it is said 

 to frequent the vicinity of the coast, and to feed to a 

 great extent upon fish. 



THE BED-BILLED TOUCAN (Rhamphastos erythro- 

 rhynchus}, a large species, measuring upwards of 

 twenty inches in length, is distinguished from the pre- 

 ceding by having the lower mandible and the lower 

 part of the upper one red, the base of both and the 

 top of the upper mandible being yellow, with a black 

 band separating the yellow parts from the red. The 

 general colour of the plumage is black ; the throat is 

 white, bordered with red at the bottom ; the upper 

 tail-coverts are yellow, and the lower ones red. 



This species is a common bird in Guiana and Brazil. 

 Along the course of the Amazon, according to Mr. 

 Edwards, it and the ARIEL TOUCAN (R. Ariel), a 

 species nearly allied to the one figured in our plate, 

 are the most abundant forms of this family, occurring 

 in vast numbers throughout the forests in the autumn. 

 When they alight, and begin climbing about the trees 

 in search of fruits, one of them acts the part of a sen- 

 tinel, continually uttering a loud cry of tucdno, from 

 which their name is derived. When the whole flock 

 raise their loud and not over-melodious voices in con- 

 cert, they produce a harsh scream, which may be 

 heard at the distance of a mfle. Mr. Edwards tells us 

 that these birds, when tamed, may be taught as many 

 tricks as a parrot, but they are destitute of the faculty 

 of speech. 



THE TOCO TOUCAN (Rhamphastos Toco}, which is 



spread over Guiana, Brazil, and Paraguay, is a smaller 

 species than any of the preceding, measuring only nine 

 or ten inches in length. The bill of this bird, which 

 is quite as large in proportion as that of any of its 

 allies, is black at the base, and reddish-yellow for the 

 rest of its surface, except the apex of the upper mandi- 

 ble, which is black; the plumage is as usual black, 

 with the throat white, margined with red ; the upper 

 tail-coverts white, and the lower ones red. 



THE ABACABI (Pteroglossus aracari) Plate 16, 

 fig. 56. The Aracaris, forming the genus Pteroglossus, 

 closely resemble the Toucans in their characters, but 

 have a rather more solid bill, of which the upper 

 mandible forms a rounded arch, without the distinct 

 ridge, marked by a channel on each side, which is 

 characteristic of the true Toucans. They also have 

 a longer tail, of which the feathers are graduated. 



The present species is nearly seventeen inches in 

 length. Its colour above is dull green, with the head 

 and throat black, and the rump scarlet ; the breast is 

 scarlet, with a broad black band ; the flanks yellow, 

 the belly and legs green, and the lower tail-coverts 

 pale yellow. It is a native of Brazil and Guiana. 



THE KOULTK ABACABI (Pteroglossus piperivorus), 

 a well-known species in Cayenne, where it has received 

 the name of Koulik from its peculiar cry, is about the 

 same size as the preceding species. It has the head, 

 neck, breast, and middle of the belly black, with a 

 steel-blue gloss ; the head has a yellow spot on each 

 side, and the back of the neck an orange crescent ; the 

 back is olive green, the tail green above and brown 

 beneath, and the lower tail-coverts crimson. 



THE GBEEN ABAC ART (Pteroglossus lirulis}. This 

 is a small species, only measuring fourteen inches in 

 length, including the bill. It is of an olive-green 

 colour above, and sulphur-yellow beneath, with the 

 head and throat black, and the rump bright red ; the 

 bill, which is upwards of three inches long, has the 

 top of the upper mandible yellow, and the sides red, 

 the two colours being separated by a black line ; the 

 lower mandible is black, and the serrated edges of 

 both mandibles are white. It inhabits Guiana. 



FAMILY II. PSITTACID^E. 



This family includes the numerous species of Par- 

 rots, which, as already stated, may be regarded not only 

 as the most typical members of the order Scansores, 

 but perhaps as entitled to rank as its sole representa- 

 tives. These birds are, in fact, the only ones furnished 

 with truly prehensile feet, which stand them instead 

 of hands ; with these the Parrots are not only able to 

 grasp any object with great firmness, but actually in 

 feeding often make use of them in place of hands to 

 convey their food to the mouth. From this hand-like 

 use of the feet, the arboreal and scansorial habits of 

 the birds, and their general intelligence, which is 

 perhaps greater than that of any members of their 

 class, we may with some justice regard the Parrots as 

 the analogues of the Quadrumanous mammals, and as 

 occupying a correspondingly high position in the 

 classification of birds. 



