the bird is dead. The nostrils, near the base of the bill, partly covered by a horny lamina of it and surrounded 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, Mr. 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 nature has given them the most exquisite power of smell; these organs could not be developed under the ordinary form; the bill therefore is made so large as to contain an infinity of nerves, disposed like network, all of which lead immediately to the nostrils, and are protected externally by a thin horny covering; so that the bill, apparently heavy, is in reality exceedingly light, and is no inconvenience to the bird whatever.*

For our knowledge of the habits of these birds we are chiefly indebted to M. D'Azara. They are all of them natives of the tropical regions of America; and

* Classification of Birds.

subsist throughout the greater part of the year chiefly upon fruits. But they are also highly carnivorous, and attack the smaller birds in their nests, driving them away from their eggs, or from their young, which they afterwards devour at their leisure. Even the eggs and young of the Macaws and other equally large birds are stated occasionally to fall victims to their propensity for preying on the progeny of their neighbours. These delicacies form their principal nutriment during the season in which they are to be procured; but when that is passed away, the Toucans return to their vegetable diet, and never attempt, it is said, to molest the older birds. Their flight is low and heavy, and generally in a straight horizontal line. They perch in groups of eight or ten together, on the summits of the loftiest trees, and are seen in almost constant motion, hopping from branch to branch with the greatest quickness. In flying, the point of their beak is directed forwards, and this position, together with its extreme lightness, prevents it from overbalancing their body. Their tongue, from its flexibility, is quite useless as a means of guiding their food to its proper destination. It is for this reason that in feeding they first seize the morsel, whatever it may be, either with the sides or point of the bill, and then jerking it upwards in the air let it fall at once into their widelydistended throat. They build their nest in the hollows of trees, and lay but two eggs at a time.*

The predominant hue of the plumage of these birds is black on the upper parts, the lower portion being varied with either white, yellow, or red.

* Menagerie of the Zoological Society, Bennet.

Parrots.

THERE is not in the whole class of birds a more remarkable group than that which now claims our attention. Whether we regard the singularity of the habits of some, the gorgeousness and extreme variety of their colours, their clamorous chattering and screaming, their mischievous propensities, their dexterity in climbing amongst the branches of trees, or the intelligence that is apparent in the expression of their eye, we are amazed at their peculiarities, and can only compare them to the monkey tribe amongst the Mammalia, whose representatives they appear to the feathered race.

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among

The Psittacida are an exceedingly numerous family. The greater part of them are forest birds, living upon the produce of the trees, though some of them are altogether ground birds, and find their food there. They are principally inhabitants of those countries that lie within the tropics, and are almost exclusively vegetable-feeders, the kernels of fruits and the buds of flowers of trees being the chief sources on which they depend for their nourishment; they could not therefore subsist in those countries where for several months in the year the trees are devoid both of leaves and fruit. The luxuriance of vegetation in tropical countries is very great, and there is a constant succession of food for the Parrots; but should this fail in one district, they are amply