Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 2 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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The Toucan We Had Bought Was Very Young; Yet It Took Delight,
During The Whole Voyage, In Teasing The Cusicusis, Or Nocturnal
Monkeys, Which Are Melancholy And Irritable.
I did not observe what
has been related in some works of natural history, that the toucan is
forced, from the structure of its beak, to swallow its food by
throwing it up into the air.
It raises it indeed with some difficulty
from the ground, but, having once seized it with the point of its
enormous beak, it has only to lift it up by throwing back its head,
and holding it perpendicularly whilst in the act of swallowing. This
bird makes extraordinary gestures when preparing to drink. The monks
say that it makes the sign of the cross upon the water; and this
popular belief has obtained for the toucan, from the creoles, the
singular name of diostede.* (* Dios te de, God gives it thee.)
Most of our animals were confined in small wicker cages; others ran at
full liberty in all parts of the boat. At the approach of rain the
macaws sent forth noisy cries, the toucan wanted to reach the shore to
fish, and the little monkeys (the titis) went in search of Father Zea,
to take shelter in the large sleeves of his Franciscan habit. These
incidents sometimes amused us so much that we forgot the torment of
the mosquitos. At night we placed a leather case (petaca), containing
our provisions, in the centre; then our instruments, and the cages of
our animals; our hammocks were suspended around the cages, and beyond
were those of the Indians.
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