TOUCANS. 



467 



raise and lower at will. They are the largest among the race of 

 Parrots of the Old Continent. They inhabit the Indies and the 

 isles of Oceania, and are pretty, graceful, docile, and caressing, 

 but are indifferent talkers. One very remarkable species of this 

 group is the Microglosse (little tongue), called by Levaillant the 

 I'Macaw with the trumpet,"from the formation of its tongue, which 

 is cylindrical, and terminated by a little gland slightly hollowed 

 at the extremity. When this bird has reduced into fragments, 

 by the help of its jaws, the kernels of the fruits which form its 

 nourishment, it seizes the pieces by means of the hollow which 

 terminates the tongue, and having tried the flavour, projects 



Fig. 189. — Sulphur Cockatoos {Cacatua sulphurea. Wood). 



the trumpet in front, and makes it pass to the palate, which has 

 the function of causing it to fall into the throat. This curious 

 mechanism was disclosed by Levaillant. 



Toucans. 



The characteristic of the birds which compose the family of 

 Toucans is their enormous beak. This is much longer than 

 the head, is curved at its extremity, dentated at its edges, and 



hh2 



