48 BEING LOST IN THE FOREST. 
his prey he jerks it up into the air, and catches 
it up again in his wide bill, and, by a few 
squeezes, kills it. Then he dexterously breaks 
the bones, and swallows it piece by piece, not 
leaving even the beak and legs, if it happens 
to be a bird. All the while he makes a 
hollow chattering noise with his bill, as if 
exulting over his meal. 
The nest of the toucan is m the hollow of 
a tree ; and when he goes to roost he turns his 
tail up over his back, and nestles his great bill 
on his shoulder, until it is quite concealed 
among the feathers. 
He is as noisy as the parrot, and altogether 
they made such a din, that the soldier was 
glad to get out of their way. Happily for 
him the elephants had been there before him, 
tearing down the branches ; and numbers of 
cocoa nuts lay strewed upon the ground. On 
these he made a good supper, and tied him- 
self into the tree for the night. The moon 
shone in all her splendour, and he could dis- 
tinctly see the animals come down to the river 
to drink. 
And here I might tell you that in hot 
countries the creatures in the forest have, 
