VARIETIES OF THE TOUCAN. 
85 
ascertained, Professor Owen suggested that the great toothed bill was 
useful in holding and re-masticating the food. Mr. Bates, however, 
explains its purpose in a much more satisfactory manner. 
On the crowns of the great forest-trees of South America the flowers 
and fruit grow principally towards the extremity of slender twigs. 
Now, as these are incapable of sustaining any considerable weight, all 
animals feeding on fruit, or on the insects which dwell in flowers, must 
necessarily be provided with some means of reaching their food from a 
considerable distance. Monkeys employ, as we know, their long arms, 
and sometimes their tails. Humming-birds are gifted with splendid 
organs of flight, and a strong muscular development, so that they can 
sustain themselves on the wing before the blossoms, the treasures of 
which they seek to plunder. But the wings of the trogon are feeble, 
and he is of a lethargic temperament. He cannot take his food on 
the wing. What he does, is to take up his post on a low branch in 
the forest solitudes, contemplating the fruits on the surrounding trees ; 
and when stimulated at last to action by his appetite, darting off to 
seize a mouthful, and, half exhausted, returning to his former quiet 
perch. But the toucan, on the contrary, remains seated, and employs 
his enormous bill to counterbalance the disadvantage he would other- 
wise experience through his awkward and reluctant movements. 
The most curious of toucans, or ara^aris, or arassaris, as they are 
variously called, is the curl-crested ; so called from the little glossy 
curls of a hard horny substance, like metallic shavings, which cover 
his head. He appears in large flocks in the forests, when he has 
completed his moult, hopping from branch to branch among the lower 
trees, half hidden by the foliage. His notes are very singular, re- 
minding one of the chorus of frogs in Aristophanes. 
The varieties of toucan are numerous. When flying, their large 
beaks give them an awkward appearance ; but they show no awkward- 
ness in making use of them. Alighting on a tree, they choose one of 
their number to act as sentinel ; and he proves his vigilance by con- 
stantly repeating the loud cry, Tucdno. The others disperse about the 
branches, climbing by aid of their beaks, and seizing the fruit. It has 
been said that they are in the habit of tossing up their food to a con-' 
