By their loud cry, resembling the yelping of a puppy-dog, and the enormous disproportion of their bill, which might seem rather adapted to a bird of ostrich-like dimensions than to one not much larger than a crow, the Toucans make themselves very conspicuous in the American woods. Were it of a strong and solid texture, their huge beak would infallibly weigh them to the ground; but being of a light and cellular structure, and in some places not thicker than writing paper, they carry it easily, and leap with such agility from bough to bough, that it does not then appear preposterously large. When flying, it gives them, indeed, a very awkward appearance, as their body always seems overweighted by the enormous beak, which makes the head bow downwards as the bird passes through the air; but the beauty of its colouring soon reconciles the eye to its disproportionate size: for the brightest red, variegated with black and yellow stripes on the upper mandible, and a stripe of the liveliest sky-blue on the lower, contribute to adorn the bill of the Bouradi, as one of the three Toucan species of Guiana is called by the Indians. Unfortunately, these brilliant tints fade after death, and even the art of a Waterton is unable to fix and preserve their evanescent hues. The plumage of this strange bird rivals the beak in beauty of colouring, and the feathers are frequently used as ornaments by the Brazilian ladies. A green-wood loving bird, the Toucan never wanders from the shady forests, where he may generally be seen perched on the topmost boughs of the loftiest trees, far beyond the reach of small shot, and requiring a single bullet or the Indian’s poisoned arrow to bring him from his elevated situation. Few birds are more noisy or of a more quarrelsome and imperious temper. In the rainy season his clamour is incessant, and in fair weather the woods resound at morning and evening with his yelping cry.