THE TUCANO 
a stone or try to point a rifle at it, it would fly a long 
distance off, with shrill yelps, and would not return until 
it was quite sure that we were not noticing its presence. 
The uses of the enormous bill of the tucano have often 
been discussed by ornithologists, many of whom believe 
that the bill is of no use to that bird, and that Nature 
made in this case a mistake and has not yet had time 
to rectify it. Scientists frequently allege that Nature 
makes mistakes, because many of them have never really 
understood Nature. How could they? They have never 
been near enough to Nature unspoiled. Many of them 
also believe that tucano birds are great fishers, following 
the notion that many water birds have red or yellow bills 
of large size. That, too, is another great mistake, for 
the tucano is eminently a fruit and nut eater, and of course 
a feeder on worms and insects contained in fruit. 
The huge bill, attaining the length of six or seven 
inches, is toothed at the sides in order to saw the stems of 
fruit. The shape and size of the bill, far from being a 
mistake of Nature, are made so in order to enable that 
bird to dig holes into the bark of trees and to enable it to 
crush and chew the many curiously shaped fruits found 
in certain parts of the Brazilian forest. Moreover, the 
bill is also a great protection to the head in going through 
the dense foliage, where thorns are innumerable and alive 
with dangerous insects of great size, which, owing to the 
length of its beak, can be destroyed at a distance from 
the bird’s most vital organs. 
These birds have received the name 44 tucano ” from 
the noise they make, which resembles tok-kan ” very 
sharply pronounced and with a snap at the end of each 
syllable. 
The tucanos are good climbers, but not good fliers. 
In fact, their flight is somewhat clumsy and heavy, and 
they seldom fly long distances. They spend all their time 
on the higher branches of trees. They are generally to be 
vol. i.— 10 145 
