484 Mr. Broderip on the Manners of a 



much developed in the male,) in this sex are of the ordinary 

 length, so also is the breadth of the lesser quills ; but the length 

 of the bill exceeds that of the male by one eighth of an inch. 

 In this specimen there is a slight difference also in the comparative 

 length of the quill feathers : the third being in a very slight degree 

 shorter than the fourth and fifth. 



Although this bird is not absolutely labelled as the female, yet 

 I have no doubt whatever of such being the case. 



AuT. LXI. Observations on the Manners of a live Toucan, 

 now exhibited in this Country. By W. J. BroderiPj 

 Esq. F.L.S. 



[To the Editors of the Zoological Journal, 17th Dec. 1824.] 



Gentlemen, 



I SHOULD hardly consider the following trifle worthy of insertion 

 in your Journal, were it not for the interest which is attached to 

 any memoir illustrative of the habits of animals, and more particu- 

 larly of those whose geographical distribution renders them compa- 

 ratively inaccessible. 



There are, perhaps, few matters of this kind which have so much 

 excited the attention, and baffled the investigation of Naturalists, 

 as the habits and food of the Toucans. It appears that Linnaeus 

 had reason to believe that some of these birds partook of animal 

 food, for he called one of the species Piscivorus ; and, accordingly, 

 met with the censure which too many are apt to lavish on those 

 who venture to broach any thing which gives a shock to precon- 

 ceived opinions. 



My friend Mr. Swainson, who has seen these birds in their na- 

 tive forests, and has since paid great attention to the species, long 

 ago told me that he had frequently watched them ; and remarked 

 that they always perched on the summits of lofty trees, where they 

 would remain as ifzoatching. This circumstance, joined to others 

 connected with the remains of food found in the stomach of such 



