CUCKOOS. 
15 
the bird is dead. The nostrils, near tlie base of the 
bill, partly covered by a horny lamina of it and sur- 
rounded by membrane. The feet stout, with four toes, 
two to the front and two to the rear ; the front toes 
united as far as the first articulation, and the external 
one longer than the tarsus. The wings of mean length, 
concave and rounded, the third and fourth quills being 
longest ; the tail-feathers ten in number. 
Toucans make their way through the branches of 
trees, among which they constantly live, by hopping 
from bough to bough, their feet being more adapted for 
grasping, like those of the Parrots, than for climbing, 
like the Woodpeckers. They are mostly large-sized 
birds, of rich and glossy plumage, and their actions easy 
and graceful. The apparent disproportion of the bill, 
]\[r. Swainson observes, is one of the innumerable 
instances of that beautiful adaptation of structure to 
use, which the book of nature everywhere reveals. 
The food of these birds principally consists of the 
eggs and young of others, to discover which natirre 
has given them the most exquisite power of smell ; - 
these organs could not be developed under the ordinar}" 
form ; the bill therefore is made so large as to con- 
tain an infinity of nerves, disposed like network, all of 
which lead immediately to the nostrils, and are pro- 
tected externally by a thin horny covering ; so that 
the bill, apparently heavy, is in reality exceedingly 
liglit, and is no inconvenience to the bird whatever.* 
Por our knowledge of the habits of these birds we 
are chiefly indebted to IM. D’Azara. They are all of 
them natives of the tropical regions of America ; and 
* Classification of Birds. 
