THE SIXTH FAMILY OF THE ZYGODACTYLE PICARIAN BIRDS.THE TOUCANS (Rhamphastidæ).[259]
The Toucans, with their clumsy bills, have much the aspect of Hornbills, which they may be said to represent in South America, to which continent they are entirely confined, but by this time the student knows that they have really little to do with each other, beyond a certain outward similarity, as the Toucans belong to the Scansorial, the Hornbills to the Fissirostral, section of thePicariæ. It is not possible to give a long account of the habits of individual species of Toucans, and a general sketch of their manners and customs is extracted from the monograph of the Toucans written by Mr. John Gould.[260]To him the late Prince Maximilian, of Neuwied, an excellent observer, during his travels in South America writes:—“TheRhamphastidæare very common in all parts of the extensive forests of the Brazils, and are killed in great numbers at the cooler portion of the year, for the purposes of the table. To the stranger they are of even greater interest than to the natives, from their remarkable form, and from the rich and strongly-contrasted style of their colouring, their black or green bodies being adorned with markings of the most brilliant hues—red, orange, blue and white—the naked parts of the body dyed with brilliant colours, the legs blue or green, the irides blue, yellow, &c., and the large bill of a different colour in every species, and in many instances very gaily marked. The colouring of the soft parts is, however, so evanescent, that, to determine the species with accuracy, they must be depicted during life or immediately after the birds are killed. Common as these birds are in their native wilds, it is exceedingly difficult to detect their breeding-places; it is certain that they deposit their eggs in the hollow limbs and holes of the colossal trees so abundant in the tropical forests, but I never was so fortunate as to discover them. The stomachs of the specimens I examined contained nothing but the remains of fruits, principally of the softer kinds, for which, indeed, they have such a liking that they resort in great numbers to the plantations in the vicinity of their native haunts, and commit sad havoc among their favourite delicacies. I was informed that they frequently steal and eat young birds, but no instance of their doing so came under my own observation, and I neverdetected the remains of animal food in their stomachs. Mr. Waterton’s opinion agrees with mine, that they feed solely upon fruits; but Azara, among others, states that they also feed upon animal substances. The specimens we saw in a state of domestication were very voracious and perfectly omnivorous, but they seem to be purely frugivorous in a state of nature, a fact which was, indeed, confirmed by the Brazilian natives whom we questioned on the subject. In their manners theRhamphastidæoffer some resemblance to the Crows, and especially to the Magpies; like them they are very troublesome to the birds of prey, particularly to the Owls, whom they surround and annoy by making a great noise, all the while jerking their tails upwards and downwards. The flight of these birds is easy and graceful, and they sweep with facility over the loftiest trees of their native forests, their strangely-developed bills, contrary to expectation, being no encumbrance to them. The voice of the Toucans is short and unmelodious, and is somewhat different in every species. The feathers are used by the Indians for personal decoration, especially the yellow breasts of the birds, which they affix to their heads on each side near the temple, and also to the ends of their bows.”
TOUCAN.
TOUCAN.
Mr. Waterton, in one of his Essays, has the following remarks:—“There are three species of Toucan in Demerara, and three diminutives, which may be called Toucanets. The largest of the former frequents the mangrove-trees on the sea-coast. It is never seen in the interior until you reach Macoushia, where it is found in the neighbourhood of the river Tacatou; the other two species are very common. They feed entirely on the fruits of the forest, and, though of the Pie kind, never kill the young of other birds or eat carrion. The larger is calledBouradiby the Indians (which meansnose), the otherScirou. They seem partial to each other’s company, and often resort to the same feeding tree, and retire to the same shady noon-day retreat. They are very noisy in rainy weather at all hours of the day, and in fair weather at morn and eve. The sound theBouradimakes is like the clear yelping of a puppy-dog, and you fancy he says ‘Pia-po-o-co,’ and thus the South American Spaniards call himPiapoco. All the Toucanets feed on the same trees on which the Toucan feeds, and every species of this family of enormous bill lays its eggs in the hollow trees. They are social, but not gregarious. You may sometimes see eight or ten in company, and from this you may suppose they are gregarious, but upon a closer examination you find it is only a dinner party, which breaks up and disperses towards roosting-time. You will be at a loss to conjecture for what end Nature has overloaded the head of this bird with such an enormous bill. It cannot be for the offensive, as it has no need to wage war with any of the tribes of animated nature, for its food is fruits and seed, and those are in superabundance throughout the whole year in the regions where the Toucan is found. It cannot be for the defensive, as the Toucan is preyed upon by no bird in South America, and, were it obliged to be at war, the texture of the bill is ill-adapted to give or receive blows, as you will see by dissecting it. The flight of the Toucan is by jerks. In the action of flying it seems incommoded by this huge, disproportionate feature, and the head seems as if bowed down to the earth by it against its will. If the extraordinary size and form of the bill expose the Toucan to ridicule, its colours make it amends. Were a specimen of each species of Toucan presented to you, you would pronounce the bill of theBouradithe most rich and beautiful one. It is worthy of remark that all these brilliant colours of the bill are to be found in the plumage of the body and the bare skin around the eye.” Space will not permit of a long extract from the works of d’Azara (the only field naturalist of any fame that Portugal has yet produced), but a few notes of this traveller, made in Paraguay, differ from the foregoing accounts, and show that in the southern portion of their range the habits of some of the Toucans vary to a great extent. So voracious does d’Azara consider them, that on this account he places them among the birds of prey, and writes:—“The Toucans, contrary to all appearances, destroy a great number of birds, and, on account of their long and strong beak, are respected and feared by all species. They attack and drive them from their nests, and in their very presence eat their eggs and young; these they draw from the holes with the long beak, or throw down nest and all together. It is credibly reported that the Toucans do not even respect the eggs or young of the ‘Aras’ (Macaws) and Caracaras, and if the fledglings are too large or too strong to be lifted from the nest, they dash them to the ground, as if it were their nature not only to devour, but to uselessly destroy. The bird, in flying, presents the point of his bill against the wind, so that it does not offer more resistance than that of other birds in which the head and superficies are equal in extent; besides which, the conformation and specific lightness of this long beak cannot impede flight, because the highest pointsof the bird being the bill itself and the anterior portion of the body, they form no obstacle, the wind first taking effect upon the point of the bill. When in a state of repose, the Toucan carries its bill rather more elevated than a horizontal line that would pass through the eyes, and when closely looked at, it looks like a false bill, because its base exceeds the breadth of the head, which presents the appearance of being enclosed in a case. In addition to these singularities, the nostrils are placed behind the aforesaid base. The tongue is very narrow and of an equal thickness throughout. It is entirely osseous, and resembles somewhat a feather two lines in width, furnished with an osseous fringe, which is directed from behind forwards, so that the tongue, stiff and unyielding, takes no part in the direction of the food nor in the formation of the note, which, in the first two Paraguayan species, is confined to the single syllable ‘rae.’ The mandibles are very distinctly dentated at their edges, these dentations not corresponding at all above and below, nor are they even relatively symmetrical. The beak itself is a thin osseous sheath, filled with a number of empty cellules. The eye is large, and surrounded by a triangular naked space, puffed up, and very pretty. The foot is very short and stout, and covered nearly to the heel with long scales, harsh to the touch. The outer toe, as well before as behind, is the longest. The claws are much flattened and curved, as in the Woodpeckers. The tail is composed of ten feathers. The Toucan flies at a moderate height, and in a straight horizontal line, flapping its wings occasionally with some noise. The flight is quicker than the smallness of the wings would lead one to believe. It perches towards the top of the highest trees, and though unable to climb after the manner of Woodpeckers, it still progresses with speed, hopping from branch to branch. It pays great attention to all that takes place in its vicinity, advancing with fear and diffidence, like the ‘Uruca’ and the ‘Acahes.’ There is no perceptible difference between the two sexes, nor do I believe that the species exists towards the south beyond 28°, nor that it drinks. It rarely settles on the ground. The Toucan hops obliquely and very awkwardly, with the legs separated about a hand’s breadth. When it takes young birds from the nest, pieces of meat or fruit, it throws them in the air, as a juggler his balls, and by a quick movement of the beak repeats this action until the food is in a favourable position for being swallowed, and then by another movement gulps it down its large throat. If themouthful be larger than the orifice of the gullet, the Toucan abandons it without seeking to divide it.”
BILL OF TOUCAN.
BILL OF TOUCAN.
Mr. Bates, in his “Naturalist on the River Amazon,” makes some further allusions to the Toucans and their bill, which will be found well worth the reading. He also gives the following history of a tame bird (Vol. ii., p. 341):—“One day, whilst walking along the principal pathway in the woods near Ega, I saw one of these Toucans seated gravely on a low branch close to the road, and had no difficulty in seizing it with my hand. It turned out to be a runaway pet bird; no one, however, came to own it, although I kept it in my house for several months. The bird was in a half-starved and sickly condition, but after a few days of good living it recovered health and spirits, and became one of the most amusing pets imaginable. Many excellent accounts of the habits of tame Toucans have been published, and therefore I need not describe them in detail; but I do not recollect to have seen any notice of their intelligence and confiding disposition under domestication, in which qualities my pet seemed to be almost equal to Parrots. I allowed Tocáno to go free about the house, contrary to my usual practice with pet animals. He never, however, mounted my working-table after a smart correction, which he received the first time he did so. He used to sleep on the top of a box in a corner of the room, in the usual position of these birds—namely, with the long tail laid right over on the back and the beak thrust underneath the wing. He ate of everything that we eat (beef, turtle, fish, farina, fruit), and was a constant attendant at our table—a cloth spread on a mat. His appetite was most ravenous, and his powers of digestion quite wonderful. He got to know the meal-hours to a nicety, and we found it very difficult, after the first week or two, to keep him away from the dining-room, where he had become very impudent and troublesome. We tried to shut him out by enclosing him in the back yard, which was separated by a high fence from the street on which our front door opened; but he used to climb the fence and hop round by a long circuit to the dining-room, making his appearance with the greatest punctuality as the meal was placed on the table. He acquired the habit afterwards of rambling about the street near our house, and one day he was stolen, so we gave him up for lost. But two days afterwards he stepped through the open doorway at dinner-hour, with his old gait, and sly, magpie-like expression, having escaped from the house where he had been guarded by the person who had stolen him, which was situated at the farther end of the village.”