. Homes without hands : being a description of the habitations of animals, classed according to their principle of construction . Animals. THE TOUOAH".. Toucan. There are many species of Toucan, all of which are easily re- cognizable on account of the colors of the beak, for in all these birds the enormous bill is decorated with strangely brilliant tints. In one species the bill is rich orange and black, in another it is scarlet and yellow, and in another it is green and red; and in all it is of enormous dimensions when compared with the body, and is of great strength, though very light.
. Homes without hands : being a description of the habitations of animals, classed according to their principle of construction . Animals. THE TOUOAH".. Toucan. There are many species of Toucan, all of which are easily re- cognizable on account of the colors of the beak, for in all these birds the enormous bill is decorated with strangely brilliant tints. In one species the bill is rich orange and black, in another it is scarlet and yellow, and in another it is green and red; and in all it is of enormous dimensions when compared with the body, and is of great strength, though very light. Indeed, it is but a mere shell lof horny substance, in some places not thicker than writing paper, and colored by means of certain membranes in the interior, which shine through the semi-transparent horn. It has long been known that the Toucan nested in hollow /trees, and that it preferred those cavities which could only be entered by a small aperture, the reason for this predilection being rather absurd. It was supposed that the young of the Toucan were lia- ble to the attacks of monkeys and large birds of prey, and that whenever the parent bird was alarmed, all she had to do was to poke her beak out of the aperture. The assailant, on seeing such a huge bill, fancied that an animal of corresponding size must be behind it, and therefore fled from so doughty a foe. One writer puts this idea in a very quaint manner. The monkeys, he says,. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Wood, J. G. (John George), 1827-1889; Keyl, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1823-1871; Smith, E. A. (Edward Alfred); Pearson, G. (George). New York : Harper & Brothers
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Keywords: ., bookauthorwo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectanimals
