74 ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 



the whole body, convex and gently arched above, and 

 notched along its margin, which is extremely thin, by a 

 series of irregular crenulated teeth. Although of so 

 large a size it is exceedingly light, being composed 

 entirely of thin cellular plates of bone covered on 

 the outside by a horny coating, A second equally 

 remarkable peculiarity occurs in the structure of the 

 tongue, which is of a firm cartilaginous texture, narrow, 

 elongated, and furnished on either side with a continued 

 row of fine slender processes, closely approximated to 

 each other, directed forwards, becoming longer towards 

 the tip, and giving to the entire organ the appearance 

 of a well barbed feather. In addition to these charac- 

 ters, the wings are short and slightly concave, with the 

 third and fourth quill-leathers longest ; the tail is com- 

 posed of ten feathers ; and the anterior toes are united 

 by a membrane extending beyond their middle. 



The genus was subdivided by Buffon, and many 

 modern ornithologists have followed his example, into 

 Toucans and Ara^aris. In the former the predominant 

 hue of the plumage is black, the bill is larger and more 

 delicate in its structure, and the tail-feathers are all of 

 nearly equal length. In the latter, the Pterogiossi of 

 Illiger, the bill is smaller and of a more solid consis- 

 tence, with a deeper and more regular dentation; the 

 tail is graduated, and the predominant hue is green. 

 The Aracaris are also, generally speaking, of smaller 

 size than the Toucans. 



For our knowledge of the habits of these birds in 

 their native state we are chiefly indebted to M. D'Azara. 

 They are all of them natives of the tropical regions of 

 America; and subsist throughout the greater part of 

 the year chiefly upon fruits. But they are also in a 

 hio;h deoree carnivorous, and attack the smaller birds 

 in their nests, driving them away from their eggs or 

 from their young, which they afterwards devour at their 



