KINGFISHERS AND WOODPECKERS — TOUCANS 393 



distribution, being represented in North America as well as in Asia and Africa. 

 No other kingfishers are found in South America. 



One of the woodpeckers indigenous to the region is the white-headed 

 Leuconerpes candidus of Brazil, a species remarkable for being chiefly white in 

 colour. The white-headed bright-shafted woodpecker (Colaptes formicivorus) of 

 Central America is another species remarkable for the manner in which it stores up 

 provisions by drilling small holes into the bark of trees sufficiently large to be just 

 filled by an acorn each. The leaf -woodpeckers of the genus Dendrobates are common 

 to tropical America and Africa ; but the crested woodpeckers (Celeus) are confined 

 to tropical America, as are also the genera Cerchneipicus and Crocomorphus. 



In addition to the above, South America possesses two species of the so- 

 called sapsuckers (Sphyropicus), the remaining two species being North American. 

 Unlike insect-eating woodpeckers, which are in the main beneficial, although 

 certain species do much harm to telegraph-posts and other timber in the United 

 States, the sapsuckers are exceedingly mischievous birds. In fact the case against 

 the sapsuckers, whose main food consists of the soft fluid layer, or cambium, 

 beneath the bark of trees, is so strong that the owners of forests and orchards in 

 the United States where the two most destructive species abound are justified in 

 destroying them by every available means, taking care, of course, to identify the 

 two species, namely, the yellow-bellied sapsuckers (Sphyropicus varius) and the 

 red-breasted sapsuckers (S. ruber). The annual loss in the United States due to 

 sapsuckers is estimated at no less than $1,200,000 (£240,000). 



Another family of picarian birds confined to the tropics of 

 Toucans. . , 



America are the toucans (Rhamphastidce), so often confounded by 



non-scientific people with the hornbills of the Old World. Toucans are easily recog- 

 nisable by their enormous and gorgeously coloured beaks, which are mostly toothed 

 at the edges. Although awkward in their movements, these birds are nevertheless 

 active in the branches where they dwell. When asleep they always hold their tails 

 straight up ; and they breed in holes in trees, hardly ever coming to the ground. 

 By the natives they are eagerly sought after on account of their flesh, as well as 

 for their many-coloured plumage. A well-known species is the giant toucan 

 (Rhamphastus magnirostris), a bird of the size of a crow, indigenous to Central 

 and South America. 



Five generic types of toucans are recognised, namely, the typical Rham- 

 phastus, Andigena, Pteroglossus, Selenidera, and Aidacorhamphus ; between them 

 they include at least sixty species, of which a few range into Mexico. In addition 

 to their monstrous beaks, toucans are characterised by the tufted oil-gland, and 

 the presence of ten feathers in the tail. The Brazilian forests absolutely swarm 

 with toucans, which are highly esteemed as food by the natives of South 

 America. They fty with an easy and graceful flight, and associate in large flocks, 

 which will sometimes venture to mob intruders on their domain. Their cry, 

 which varies according to the species, is loud, short, and harsh. 

 Jacamarsand The jacamars (Galbulida*) present us with a very different type 



Trogons. f foa^ which is slender and slightly curved, instead of thick and 

 heavy as in the toucans. These birds are likewise exclusively confined to the 

 South American region, and in the north of South America are represented by the 



