It is
found more or less numerously throughout the year, as it breeds
in the neighbourhood, laying its eggs in holes of trees, at a
great height from the ground. During most months of the year, it
is met with in single individuals or small flocks, and the birds
are then very wary. Sometimes one of these little bands of four
or five is seen perched, for hours together, among the topmost
branches of high trees, giving vent to their remarkably loud,
shrill, yelping cries, one bird, mounted higher than the rest,
acting, apparently, as leader of the inharmonious chorus; but two
of them are often heard yelping alternately, and in different
notes. These cries have a vague resemblance to the syllables
Tocano, Tocano, and hence, the Indian name of this genus of
birds. At these times it is difficult to get a shot at Toucans,
for their senses are so sharpened that they descry the hunter
before he gets near the tree on which they are perched, although
he may be half-concealed among the underwood, 150 feet below
them.
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