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HABITS OF THE TOUCANS. 
The beak partakes of the brilliant coloring which decorates the plumage, but its beauti- 
ful hues are sadly evanescent, often disappearing or changing so thoroughly as to give no 
intimation of their former beauty. The prevailing color seems to be yellow, and the next in 
order is red, but there is hardly a hue that is not found on the beak of one or other of the 
species. As examples of the coloring of the beaks, we will mention the following species. 
In the Toco Toucan it is bright ruddy orange, with a large black oval spot near the extremity ; 
in the Short-billed Toucan it is light green, edged and tipped with red ; in the Tocard Toucan 
it is orange above and chocolate below ; in the Red-billed Toucan it is light scarlet and yellow ; 
in Cuvier’s Toucan it is bright yellow and black, with a lilac base ; in the Curl-crested Aragari 
it is orange, blue, chocolate, and white ; in the Yellow-billed Toucan it is wholly of a creamy- 
yellow, while in Azara’s Aragari it is cream-white with a broad blood-red stripe along the 
middle. Perhaps the most remarkable bill of all the species is found in the Laminated Hill 
Toucan (Andigena lamindtus ), where the bill is black, with a blood-red base, and has a large 
buff-colored shield of horny substance at each side of the upper mandible, the end next the 
base being fused into the beak, and the other end free. The use of this singular, and I believe 
unique, appendage is not known. 
The flight of the Toucan is quick, and the mode of carrying the head seems to vary in 
different species, some holding their heads rather high, while others suffer them to droop. 
Writers on this subject, and indeed, on every point in the history of these birds, are rather 
contradictory ; and we may assume that each bird may vary its mode of flight or carriage in 
order to suit its convenience at the time. On the ground they get along with a rather awkward 
hopping movement, their legs being kept widely apart. In ascending a tree the Toucan 
does not climb, but ascends by a series of jumps from one branch to another, and has a great 
predilection for the very tops of the loftiest trees, where no missile except a rifle ball can 
reach him. 
The voice of the Toucan is hoarse and rather disagreeable, and is in many cases rather 
articulate. In one species the cry resembles the word “Tucano,” which has given origin to 
the peculiar name by which the whole group is designated. They have a habit of sitting on 
the branches in flocks, having a sentinel to guard them, and are fond of lifting up their beaks, 
clattering them together, and shouting hoarsely, from which custom the natives term them 
Preacher-birds. Sometimes the whole party, including the sentinel, set up a simultaneous 
yell, which is so deafeningly loud that it can be heard at the distance of a mile. They are very 
loquacious birds, and are often discovered through their perpetual chattering. 
Grotesque as is their appearance, they have a great hatred of birds which they think to be 
Uglier than themselves, and will surround and “mob” an unfortunate owl that by chance has 
got into the daylight, with as much zest as is displayed by our crows and magpies at home 
under similar circumstances. While engaged in this amusement, they get round the poor bird 
in a circle, and shout at him so, that wherever he turns he sees nothing but great snapping 
bills, a number of tails bobbing regularly up and down, and threatening gestures in every 
direction. 
In their wild state their food seems to be mostly of a vegetable nature, except in the breed- 
ing season, when they repair to the nests of the white ant which have been softened by the rain, 
break down the walls with their strong beaks, and devour the insects wholesale. One writer 
says that during the breeding season they live exclusively on this diet. They are very 
fond of oranges and guavas, and often make such havoc among the fruit-trees, that they 
are shot by the owner, who revenges himself by eating them, as their flesh is very delicate. 
In the cool time of the year they are killed in great numbers merely for the purposes of the 
table. 
In domestication they feed on almost any substance, whether animal or vegetable, and are 
wery fond of mice and young birds, which they kill by a sharp grip of the tremendous beak, 
and pull to pieces as daintily as a jackdaw or magpie. One Toucan, belonging to a friend, 
killed himself by eating too many ball-cartridges on board a man-of-war. As the habits of 
most of these birds are very similar, only one species has been figured, for the description 
of other species would necessarily have been limited to a mere detail of coloring. 
