SCANSORES, OR CLIMBING BIRDS. 



LARGE group of birds is arranged by naturalists under the title of Scansores, 

 or Climbing Birds, and may be recognized by the structure of their feet. Two 

 toes are directed forward and the other two backward, so that the bird is aide to 

 take a very powerful hold of the substance on which it is sitting, and this enables 

 some species, as the woodpeckers, to run nimbly up tree-trunks and to hold 

 themselves tightly on the bark while they hammer away with their beaks, and 

 other species, of which the Parrots are familiar examples, to clasp the bough as 

 with a hand. There is some little difficulty in settling the exact limits of this group. 



The very curious birds that go by the name of Toucans are not one whit less remarkable 



than the hornbills, their beak 

 being often as extravagantly 

 large, and their colors by far 

 superior. They are inhabi- 

 tants of America, the greater 

 number of species being found 

 in the tropical regions of that 

 country. 



Of these birds there are 

 many species. Mr. Gould, m 

 his magnificent work, the 

 "Monograph of the " Rham- 

 phastidse." figures fifty-one 

 species, and ranks them under 

 six genera. 



The most extraordinary 

 part of these birds is the enor- 

 mous beak, which in some 

 s]>ecies, such as the Toco Tou- 

 can, is of gigantic dimensions, 

 seeming big enough to give its 

 owner a perpetual headache, 

 while in others, such as the 

 Toucanets, it is not so large as 

 to attract much attention. 



As in the case of the horn- 

 bills, their beak is very thin 

 and is strengthened by a vast 

 number of honeycomb-cells, so 

 that it is very light and does 

 not incommode the bird in the 

 least. In performing the usual duties of a beak, such as picking U p food and pluming the 

 feathers, this apparently unwieldy beak is used with perfect address, and even in flight its 

 weight does not incommode its owner. 



TOCO.-Xamphastus loco. 



