THE TOUCAX. 339 



detected the remains of animal food in their stomachs. Mr. Waterton's opinion agrees with mine, that 

 they feed solely upon fruits ; but Azara, among others, states that they also feed upon animal sub- 

 stances. The specimens we saw in a state of domestication were very voracious and perfectly 

 omnivorous, but they seem to be purely frugivorous in a state of nature, a fact which was, indeed, 

 confirmed by the Brazilian natives whom we questioned on the subject. In their manners the 

 RhamphastidcK offer some resemblance to the Crows, and especially to the Magpies; like them they are 

 very troublesome to the birds of prey, particularly to the Owls, whom they surround and annoy by 

 making a great noise, all the while jerking their tails upwards and downwards. The flight of these 

 birds is easy and graceful, and they sweep with facility over the loftiest trees of their native forests, 

 their strangely-developed bills, contrary to expectation, being no encumbrance to them. The voice 

 of the Toucans is short and xinmelodious, and is somewhat different in every species. The feathers 

 tire used by the Indians for personal decoration, especially the yellow breasts of the birds, which they 

 affix to their heads on each side near the temple, and also to the ends of their bows." 



Mr. Waterton, in one of his Essays, has the following remarks : " There are three species of 

 Toucan in Demerara, and three diminutives, which may be called Toucanets. The largest of the former 

 frequents the mangrove-trees on the sea-coast. It is never seen in the interior until you reach Macous- 

 hia, where it is found in the neighbourhood of the river Tacatou ; the other two species are very common. 

 They feed entirely on the fruits of the forest, and, though of the Pie kind, never kill the young of 

 other birds or eat carrion. The larger is called Bouradi by the Indians (which means nose), the other 

 Scirou. They seem partial to each other's company, and often resort to the same feeding tree, and 

 retire to the same shady noon-day retreat. They are very noisy in rainy weather at all hours of the 

 day, and in fair weather at morn and eve. The sound the Bouradi makes is like the clear yelping of 

 a p'ippy-dog, and you fancy he says ' Pia-po-o-co,' and thus the South American Spaniards call him 

 Piapoco. All the Toucanets feed on the same trees on which the Toucan feeds, and every species of 

 this family of enormous bill lays its eggs in the hollow trees. They are social, but not gregaiious. 

 You may sometimes see eight or ten in company, and from this you may suppose they are gregarious, 

 but upon a closer examination you find it is only a dinner party, which breaks up and disperses 

 towards roosting-time. You will be at a loss to conjecture for what end Nature has overloaded the 

 head of this bird with such an enormous bill. It cannot be for the offensive, as it has no need to wage 

 war with any of the tribes of animated nature, for its food is fruits and seed, and those are in super- 

 abundance throughout the whole year in the regions where the Toucan is found. It cannot be for the 

 defensive, as the Toucan is preyed upon by no bird in South America, and, were it obliged to be at 

 war, the texture of the bill is ill-adapted to give or receive blows, as you will see by dissecting it. The 

 flight of the Toucan is by jerks. In the action of flying it seems incommoded by this huge, dispropor- 

 tionate feature, and the head seems as if bowed down to the earth by it against its will. If the 

 extraordinary size and form of the bill expose the Toucan to ridicule, its colours make it amends. 

 Were a specimen of each species of Toucan presented to you, you would pronounce the bill of the 

 Bouradi the most rich and beautiful one. It is worthy of remark that all these brilliant colours of 

 the bill are to be found in the plumage of the body and the bare skin around the eye." Space will not 

 permit of a long extract from the works of d' Azara (the only field naturalist of any fame that Portugal 

 has yet produced), but a few notes of this traveller, made in Paraguay, differ from the foregoing 

 accounts, and show that in the southern portion of their range the habits of some of the Toucans vary 

 to a great extent. So voracious does d' Azara consider them, that on this account he places them among 

 the birds of prey, and writes : " The Toucans, contrary to all appearances, destroy a great number of 

 birds, and, on account of their long and strong beak, are respected and feared by all species. They 

 attack and drive them from their nests, and in their very presence eat their eggs "and young ; these 

 they draw from the holes with the long beak, or throw down nest and all together. It is credibly 

 reported that the Toucans do not even respect the eggs or young of the ' Aras ' (Macaws) and 

 Caracaras, and if the fledglings are too large or too strong to be lifted from the nest, they 

 dash them to the ground, as if it were their nature not only to devour, but to uselessly destroy. The 

 bird, in flying, presents the point of his bill against the wind, so that it does not offer more resistance 

 than that of other birds in which the head and superficies are equal in extent ; besides which, the 

 conformation and specific lightness of this long beak cannot impede flight, because the highest points 



