THE PREACHER TOUCAN. 151 



by any means numerous, and, according to CUVIER, they are 

 found only in the warmest regions of America. They live on 

 fruits, usually go in little flocks of from six to ten, and fly heavily, 

 apparently with trouble to themselves. They can, however, ele- 

 vate themselves to the summits of the highest trees, where they 

 are fond of perching, and are almost in a continual state of agi- 

 tation. They make their nests in the hollows of trees, and the 

 female lays but two eggs. The young are easily tamed and 

 reared, for they will eat any thing which is given to them fruits, 

 bread, flesh, or fish. They seize the morsels which are presented 

 them with the point of the bill, throw them upwards, and receive 

 them in their large gullet. If they seek their food on the ground, 

 they usually take it up sideways and fling it in the air, and catch 

 it in the same manner. The Toucans are so sensible to cold, that 

 they dread the freshness of the night even in tropical climates. 

 Their skin is generally blueish, and their flesh, though hard and 

 black, is yet eatable. " When," says M. D'AZARA, " they take 

 little birds in the nest, or morsels of meat or fruits, they dart 

 them into the air, and by a slight movement of the bill, they 

 direct them so as to be swallowed conveniently ; then by another 

 motion they receive them into their wide gullet. But if the 

 morsel should be larger than the aperture of the latter, they 

 abandon it without attempting to divide it." 



The last-named naturalist furnishes some original observations 

 on those birds, which may serve to complete their natural history. 

 " The Toucans, contrary to what may be supposed, destroy a 

 great number of birds, their large and bulky bfll rendering them 

 formidable to most species. They attack them, chase them from 

 their nests, and even in their presence devour their eggs and 

 young ones, which they either draw out of holes by the aid of 

 their long bill, or bring to the ground along with the nests. It 

 is affirmed that the Toucans do not even respect the nests of the 

 Aras and Caracaras, and that if the young ones are too strong 

 to allow themselves to be carried away from the nest, their ad- 

 versaries strike them to the ground, as if their disposition led 

 them not only to devour, but to destroy. Even the solid nest of 

 the Rufous Bee-eater, which resists time, and other causes of 

 destruction, is not safe from the attacks of the Toucans, which 

 wait until the clay, of which it is composed, is softened by the 

 rain, to batter it with strokes of their bills, that they may devour 

 the eggs and young. During the season of hatching, the Toucans 

 have scarcely any other aliment ; but at other times they live on 

 fruits, and sometimes on insects and the tender buds of plants ; 

 they then leave the other winged tribes in peace." 



According to this author the tongue of the Toucan is inflexible, 



