It was a mercy to me that I fell into the hands of poor Raymond, for my mind and heart were softened by my sickness, and by the humiliation I felt at having been detected in a disgraceful act, and so signally punished. His counsel, therefore, which was full of wisdom, and which he imparted in a way, at once to instruct and amuse, sunk into my mind like the seed sown in spring time, and upon a prepared soil; and I have reason to believe that I may attribute not only the recovery of my body from disease, but the correction of some of the vices of my mind, to his conversations at my sick bedside. I believe I cannot do my readers a better service than to transcribe some of these conversations, as nearly as my memory will restore them, and this I shall do in a subsequent chapter. 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. [Illustration: Toucan] 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.