THE YELLOW THROATED TOUCAN. 



I am a Toucan and I live in a 

 very warm country. 



See my handsome black coat 

 and my yellow vest. 



My toes are like a parrot's, 

 two in front and two behind. 



They help me to hold to the 

 limbs. 



Look at my large beak. It 

 looks heavy but it is not, as it is 

 filled with air cells. These 

 make it very light. Do you like 

 my blue eyes ? 



My nest is very hard to find. 

 If I tell you where it is, you 

 will not take the eggs, will you? 

 It is in a hollow limb of a very 

 high tree. 



I am very fond of fruit, and 

 for this reason the people on the 

 plantations do not like me very 

 well. 



I can fly very fast, but I can- 

 not get along so well on the 

 ground. I keep my feet far 

 apart and hop. 



I like to sit in the top of the 

 tallest trees. Then I am not 

 afraid. Nothing can reach me 

 there but a rifle ball. 



I do not like the owl, he is so 

 ugly. When we find an owl we 

 get in a circle around him and 

 snap our great beaks, and jerk 

 our tails up and down and 

 scream. He is very much afraid 

 of us. 



The people where I live like 

 our yellow breasts. They wear 

 them on their heads, and also 

 put them on the ends of their 

 bows. 



We sometimes sit together in 

 a tree and snap our beaks and 

 shout. This is why we have 

 been called u Preacher Birds." 



We can scream so loud that we 

 may be heard a mile away. Our 

 song is u Tucano ! Tucano ! " 



I think it is a pretty song, but 

 the people do not like it very 

 much. 



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