SOUTH AMERICA. 
113 
horn appear black also, and has a bad effect; judg¬ 
ment, caution, skill, and practice, will ensure success. 
You have now cleared the bill of all those bodies 
which are the cause of its apparent fading; for, as 
has been said before, these bodies dry in death, and 
become quite discoloured, and appear so through 
the horn ; and reviewing the bill in this state, you 
conclude that its former bright colours are lost. 
SECOND 
JOURNEY. 
Something still remains to be done. You have 
rendered the bill transparent by the operation, and 
that transparency must be done away to make it 
appear perfectly natural. Pound some clean chalk, 
and give it enough water till it be of the consistency 
of tar; add a proportion of gum arabic to make it 
adhesive; then take a camel-hair brush, and give 
the inside of both mandibles a coat; apply a second 
when the first is dry, then another, and a fourth to 
finish all. The gum arabic will prevent the chalk 
from cracking and falling off. If you remember, 
there is a little space of transparent white in the 
lower mandible, which originally appeared blue, 
but which became transparent white as soon as the 
thin piece of blue skin was cut away ; this must be 
painted blue inside. When all this is completed, 
the bill will please you; it will appear in its original 
colours. Probably your own abilities will suggest 
a cleverer mode of operating than the one here 
described. A small gouge would assist the pen¬ 
knife, and render the operation less difficult. 
The Houtou ranks high in beauty amongst the The 
birds of Demerara; his whole body is green, with 
i 
