THE TOUCAN 283 



The smaller members of the Toucan tribe, says Water- 

 ton, are sociable enough but do not live in flocks. " You 

 may sometimes see eight or ten in company," he says, 

 "and from this you would suppose they are gregarious ; 

 but, upon a closer examination, you will find it has only 

 been a dinner-party, which breaks up and disperses towards 

 roosting- time." 



They are noisy, too, when they get together. Says 

 another writer : " They have a habit of sitting on the 

 branches, with a sentinel stationed to warn them, and are 

 fond of lifting up their beaks, clattering them together, 

 and shouting hoarsely. Sometimes the whole party, in- 

 cluding the sentinel, set up a simultaneous yell, which is 

 so deafeningly loud that it can be heard at the distance or 

 a mile." Their habit of chattering often betrays them to 

 their enemies. 



Of these, man is certainly one of the most relentless. 

 The fact is, the flesh of the Toucan is a dainty of which 

 the natives of these regions are particularly fond. 



"Every one at Ega," says the Naturalist of the Amazons, 

 "who can get a gun of any sort and a few charges oi 

 powder and shot, or a blow-pipe, goes daily [at a particular- 

 season] to the woods to kill a few brace for dinner ; for the 

 people of Ega live almost entirely on stewed and roasted 

 Toucans during the months of June and July. The birds 

 are then very fat, and the meat exceedingly sweet and 

 tender." 



But, at other times of the year, the same writer 

 confesses that it is very difiicult to get a shot at a 

 Toucan. Even before he draws near to the tree on 

 which they happen to be perched, these wary birds 

 detect him. "They stretch their necks downwards to 

 look beneath, and on espying the least movement among 



