they remained as if watching. This circumstance, combined with others connected with the remains of food found in the stomachs of such as he dissected, had induced him to suspect that the Toucans were partly carnivorous, feeding on the eggs and young of other birds, as well as fruits and berries; and that while perched upon these high trees, they were in fact busily employed in watching the departure of the parent birds from their nests. Mr. Swainson, however, had never detected a Toucan in the fact, nor were his dissections quite conclusive as to the animal nature of their food. Dr. Such also informed Mr. Broderip that he had seen these birds in Brazil, frequently engaged in quarrels with the monkeys, and that he was certain that they fed on eggs and nestlings, as well as on a certain fruit called the toucan-berry.
These presumptions were abundantly confirmed by the carnivorous appetite of the specimen seen by Mr. Broderip in a state of captivity. The bird had been fed exclusively on vegetable food; but one day, a Canary having escaped from its cage, and approached that of the Toucan, the latter was extremely excited, and on the barrier being removed it instantly seized the Canary and devoured it. On hearing of this incident, Mr. Broderip went to see the Toucan, and requested the keeper to bring in a small bird, in order to observe the result. On a Goldfinch being introduced into the cage, it was eagerly seized, and killed in a moment by the pressure of the powerful beak. Then holding it on the perch with one foot, the Toucan proceeded to strip off the feathers; after which he broke the bones of
