ORDER SCANSOUES. 



545 



The birds classed in this genus 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, and ap- 

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

 vate themselves to the summit of the highest trees, where 

 they are fond of perching, and are almost in a continual state 

 of agitation. 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 their bill, throw 

 them upwards, and receive them in their large gullet. If 

 they seek them on the ground, they usually take them on 

 sideways, and fling them up in the air in the same sort of 

 style. The toucans are so sensible to cold, that they dread the 

 freshness of the night, even in those burning climates. Their 

 skin is generally bluish, and their flesh, though hard and 

 black, is yet eatable. 



To M. d'Azara we are indebted for some novel observa- 

 tions on the toucans, which serve to complete their natural 

 history. The toucans, according to that most meritorious na- 

 turalist—contrary to what might be supposed — destroy a great 

 number of birds, their large and bulky bill 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. Witnesses worthy of credit affirm, 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 adversaries strike them t© 

 the ground, as if their disposition led them, not only to de- 

 vour, but to destroy. Kven the solid nest of the rufous bee- 

 eater ^ which resists time, and other causes of destruction, is 



VOL. VII. N N 



