120 



WANDERINGS IN 



Second iiaturc ; for its food is fruits and seeds, and those are in 



Journey. 



superabundance throughout the whole year in the regions 



where the Toucan is found. It can hardly be for the 

 defensive, as the Toucan is preyed upon by no bird in 

 South America, and were it obliged to be at war, the 

 texture of the bill is ill adapted to give or receive blows, 

 as you will see in dissecting it. It cannot be for any par- 

 ticular protection to the tongue, as the tongue is a perfect 

 feather. 



Its aight. The flight of the Toucan is by jerks ; in the action of 

 flying it seems incommoded by this huge disproportioned 

 feature, and the head seems as if bowed down to the 

 earth by it against its will ; if the extraordinary form and 

 size of the bill expose the Toucan to ridicule, its colours 

 Colours of make it amends. Were a specimen of each species of 

 the bill. ^j^^ Toucan presented to you, you would pronounce the 

 bill of the Bouradi the most rich and beautiful ; on the 

 ridge of the upper mandible a broad stripe of most 

 lovely yellow extends from the head to the point ; a stripe 

 of the same breadth, though somewhat deeper yellow, 

 falls from it at right angles next the head down to the 

 edge of the mandible; then follows a black stripe, half as 

 broad, falling at right angles from the ridge, and running 

 narrower along the edge to within* half an inch of the 

 point. The rest of the mandible is a deep bright red. 

 The lower mandible has no yellow : its black and red 

 jare distributed in the same manner as on the upper one. 



