Toucan
Is the name of the bird whose picture is here given. I beg my reader not to laugh at his enormous bill, for it is such as nature has given him, and he is no more to blame for it than a person with a long nose, is to blame for having such a one. Bonaparte said that a man with a long nose almost invariably possessed good sense; and this holds true in respect to the toucan; for I assure you he is a very clever fellow in his way. I will tell you all about him and his family.
The toucans are natives of South America, and are very abundant in the forests of Brazil. They only dwell in the warm parts of the country, and they select those portions which are the richest in their productions. It is among spicy groves, and where fruits and flowers are to be found at all seasons of the year, that the toucan family have chosen to make their home. Surely this seems a mark of their sagacity.
The toucan is about eighteen inches in length, and its general color is black, though it is marked with crimson and yellow, and is a very stylish bird. The bill is almost as long as the body, but it is less bony than the bills of other birds; it is, in fact, a great part of it but a thin paper-like substance. Those portions which need to be strong are not solid bone, but consist of two thin laminæ, sustained by bones within, and crossing each other like the timbers which support the sides and roof of a house.
I have intimated that the toucans are pretty sensible birds, and I shall now attempt to prove it. As their legs are very short and far apart, they cannot walk very well on the ground, so they spend a great portion of their time upon the wing, or upon the trees. They have strong, sharp claws, well fitted for climbing; so they are very much addicted to hopping about among the branches of trees, and they may be often seen, like woodpeckers, running up and down the trunks. It is for this climbing propensity that they have got the name of Zygodactilic birds,—a long word, which no doubt signifies a great deal.
Another proof of the good sense of the toucan is furnished by his always sitting and flying with his head to the wind when it blows hard—for the reason, that, if he presented the broadside of his proboscis to the gale, it would bother him to keep himself from being completely blown away. Beside this proof of his sagacity, I may add, that the toucan holds the monkeys, who are very abundant and troublesome in his country, in great detestation; and well he may, for the monkey is fond of birds’ eggs, and is a great robber of birds’ nests. Now the toucan likes eggs himself, and the plundering monkey often deprives the toucan of his breakfast, by getting at the nest first. It is not wonderful that squabbles often ensue between these rival thieves—for two of a trade can never agree, you know. Of course, the robbers care as little for the poor bird that is robbed, as lawyers for their clients—but they think a great deal of themselves, and when interest is touched, they resent it manfully. There is something in a monkey and a toucan over a bird’s nest that seems like two lawyers over a case. Their mutual object is to eat up the eggs, but it makes a mighty difference which gets them. If the monkey gets the case, toucan gives him a tweak with his enormous bill, which gripes like a pair of tongs. If toucan gets the case, monkey slaps him across his beak with the palm of his hand, and often with such force as to make toucan scream outright. It must be admitted that if toucan has a large bill to bite with, he also presents an ample mark for the revenge of monkey. Whether these squabbles show the good sense of toucan, I will not decide, but he can plead the example of one of the learned professions, that of the law, which ranks among the first in society, and exerts more influence over mankind than all others put together.
Another evidence of toucan’s good sense is this,—that he eats everything he likes, if it suits his constitution. There is a delicious little fruit in his native clime, called toucan-berry, which is good for his health, so he feasts upon it when he can get it. He also eats eggs, as I have said; and, in short, he diversifies, and amplifies his pleasures, like civilized men, by fruit, flesh, fowl, or vegetable, if it agrees with him.
I do not know that I need to say more at present, than that toucan does not choose to take the trouble of making nests of stems and twigs, like some other birds, but selects his dwelling in the holes of trees, so that he may have a roof to shelter him from the storm—a preference which again marks his civilization.
THE NEWFOUNDLAND DOG.