Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/194

Rh the limbs by a strong lateral wrench with his beak, and, tearing it to pieces, devoured it portion by portion, with the highest manifestations of enjoyment. Ever and anon he would take the prey in his beak, and hop with it from perch to perch, making a hollow clattering noise, and shivering his wings. The beak and feet of his prey gave him the most trouble, but he devoured the whole, and evidently with great relish; " for whenever he raised his prey from the perch, he appeared to exult, now masticating the morsel with his toothed bill, and applying his tongue to it, now attempting to gorge it, and now making the peculiar clattering noise, accompanied by the shivering motion above mentioned." After this, animal food was mixed with the diet of this bird, in the form of meat, varied with a living bird occasionally; and it was observed that he greatly preferred the animal to the vegetable diet, carefully picking out all the morsels of the former before he would eat the latter.

There is a peculiarity connected with the repose of the Toucans which is worth noticing, as it was observed in the species seen by Mr. Broderip, and in that in the possession of Mr. Vigors. The latter gentleman observes of his specimen, that its habits were singularly regular. As the dusk of evening approached, it finished its last meal for the day, took a few turns, as if for exercise, around the perches of its cage, and then settled on the highest, disposing itself at the moment of alighting in its singular posture of preparatory repose, its head drawn in between the shoulders, and the tail turned up vertically over its back. In this posture he generally remained about two