Some of the Common Toucans also have handsome markings about the throat; but the enormous beak is their principal characteristic, and it is much the same in all the different members of the family.
It is much longer than the head, is curved at its extremity and dented at its edges. It is not so heavy to bear, and incommodes the movements of the Birds less than might be supposed, for it is formed of a spongy tissue, the numerous cells of which are filled with air. Thus it is very weak, and does not serve to break or even to bruise fruits, notwithstanding the idea one forms at first sight of its strength, for it is not even capable of breaking off the bark of trees, as certain authors have claimed. This wonderful bill encloses a still more strange tongue; very straight and as long as the beak, which is covered on each side with closely packed barbs, similar to a feather, the use of which remains to us a complete mystery. This curious instrument so struck the Naturalists of Brazil, where many Toucans are found, that it furnished them with a name. In Brazilian toucan means “feather.”
Toucans feed on fruits and insects; they live in bands of from six to ten in damp places where the palm tree flourishes, for its fruit is their favorite food. In eating they seize the fruit with the extremity of the beak, make it bounce up in the air, receive it then into the throat, and swallow it in one piece. If it is too large, and impossible to divide, they reject it. They are rarely seen on the ground, and although their flight is heavy and difficult, they perch on the branches of the highest trees, where they remain in ceaseless motion. Their call is a sort of whistle, frequently uttered.
They build their nests in holes hollowed out by Woodpeckers or other Birds. They all have very brilliant plumage, and inhabit Paraguay, Brazil and Guiana.
The Birds which comprise this group have long conical pointed beaks, and a very extensible tongue. They form two genera—the Woodpeckers and the Wry-necks.
Woodpeckers excel in the art of climbing, but they do not perform it in the same manner as the Parrots. They climb by extending their toes supplied with bent claws, upon the trunk of a tree and maintain themselves hanging there. Then they move themselves a little further by a sudden and jerked skip, and so on. They are helped in these movements by the disposition of the tail, formed of straight resistant feathers, slightly worn away at the ends, which pressed against a tree serve as a support to the Bird. By means of these peculiarities in their feet and tail feathers, the Woodpeckers traverse the trees in every direction—upwards, downwards or horizontally.