RED-BEAKED TOUCAN. 
to the shortness of tlieir wings, and the in- 
cumbrance of their enormous bill, their flight 
is heavy and laborious. They rise, however, 
above the tallest trees, on the summits pf 
which they are almost always seen perched, 
and in continual flutter. But the vivacity of 
their motions dispels not their dull air; for the 
huge bill gives them a serious melancholy 
countenance, and their large dull eyes aug- 
ment the effeSi, In short, though lively and 
a6live, they appear heavy and aukward. As 
they breed in holes abandoned by the Wood- 
pecker, it has been supposed that they exca- 
vated these themselves: but the bill is much too 
thin for any such purpose ; and, as Scaliger 
formerly remarked, being hooked downwards, 
it seems impossible that it should ever make a 
perforation. They lay only two eggs, yet all 
the species contain abundance of individuals. 
When taken young, they are easily tamed; 
and, it is said, will even propagate in the do- 
mestic state. They are not difficult to rear; 
for they swallow whatever is thrown to them, 
"bread, flesh, or fish. They take, with the 
point of their bill, bits held near, toss them 
tip, and receive them in their capacious throat. 
Thcv 
