Marvels of the Universe 



449 



This error is very prominent in the earlier travel-books of the great explorer Stanley. He and 

 others frequently mentioned the " Toucans " of the Congo Forest. But these are really small 

 hornbills, and although they bear a strong superficial resemblance to Toucans, there is absolutely 

 no near relationship between the two groups. 



Toucans have, as their nearest affinities, the barbets — a family of small and often brilliantly 

 coloured birds, with rather large and serrated beaks, which are found throughout the tropics of 

 the Old and New Worlds, and most abundantly in Equatorial Africa and Asia. Not much more 

 distant in relationship are the woodpeckers ; the jacamars and puff -birds of South America ; 

 and perhaps the honey-guides of Tropical Africa and Asia. All these groups agree in having their 

 toes placed two and two, instead of three and one. The beaks of Toucans are not only large and 

 sometimes ven,- serrated at 

 the edges (for the purpose of 

 masticating food), but they 

 are usually conspicuous either 

 for their striking coloration 

 or their ornamental carving, 

 or for both these adornments. 

 Yet, despite their great size, 

 the}' are of cellular construc- 

 tion and verj- light. The 

 beak in the species illustrated 

 in the coloured plate is not 

 only the largest proportion- 

 ately in all the group, but is 

 reaU}' a beautiful object in 

 its vivid orange colour, with 

 a large blackish spot on the 

 lower mandible. The beaks 

 of other Toucans that are 

 not so huge are more 

 elaborate in their colora- 

 tion, the upper mandible be- 

 ing a vivid black and orange, 

 and the lower mandible pure 

 white. The beaks of other 

 types may be white, red, 

 green and black, while the 

 plumage of their owners in- 

 cludes many brilliant tints 

 of green, scarlet and orange, 

 besides deep black and pure 

 white. But no Toucan has 

 any bright blue in its plum- 

 age ; the nearest they get to 

 it in one or two species being 

 a bluish-grey. On the other 

 hand, the bare spaces of skin the sea comet. 



wllirll a.DDf'a.r in SOni6 forms Very beautiful is this inhabitant of the Mediterranean. Its spiral axis of flexible 



, jewels is often more than forty inches in length, and is garlanded with hundreds of 



on the laCe may be a. brilliant diaphanous red pearls and an infinity of pendants full of light and motion. 



