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ANDIGENA NIGRIROSTRIS.
Black-billed Hil] Toucan.

SPECIFIC CHaRacteEr.

And. rostro nigro; gula alba ; corpore inferiore pallid® eyaneo.

Crown of the head and back of the neck glossy black; back, Wing-coverts and margins of the

5 . . . . = :

primaries sienna-brown ; secondaries bluish brown ; tail very dark bluish green, the four
a) : 5 ?

central feathers largely, and the next on each side shightly tipped with chestnut ; upper

tail-coverts sulphur-yellow; throat white, the white tinged with blue, proceeding across the

sides of the neck, and nearly meeting at the back; breast and abdomen pale chalky blue ;

thighs rich chestnut ; under tail-coverts blood-red ; feet greenish blue, with a lilac tinge on
their under surface.
Total length, 19 inches; Sz//, 4+; wing, 63; taal, 72; tarsi, 1%.
Pteroglossus nigrirostris, Waterh. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIL. p- 111—Gray and Mitch.
Gen. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 404, Pteroglossus, sp. 18.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av.,

p- 94, Pteroglossus, sp. 10..

melanorhynchus, Sturm’s Edit. of Gould’s Mon. of Ramph., pl.

 

Tuts species was first characterized by Mr. Waterhouse (from a specimen belonging to the late Earl of Derby)
in 1839, four years subsequent to the completion of the first edition of this work, and during my absence in
Australia ; two years later Messrs. Sturm figured it in their edition of my Monograph under the name of
P. melanorhynchus, both those gentlemen and Mr. Waterhouse having selected the black colouring of its
bill, in which it differs from every known member of its family, for their specific appellation.

It is a typical example of that division of the family to which I have applied the generic term Andigena ;

it is, moreover, one of the most delicately coloured, and one of the most interesting species of the genus ;
. . 5 “/ : 2 s Peed bh eerie = ae Sa ‘ Fe ’ COn-
from all of which, as above-mentioned, it differs in the black colouring of its bill, w hich is ea
: : Ae: . oe FO oes 1 surface Is even more delicate
trasted with the snowy whiteness of its throat; while the blue of its under surface is even mo

. : an * its mandibles indicates that it
than in 4. Aypoglaucus. It is a large and powerful bird, and the strength of its mandibles inc s the

can use them with greater force than any of its congeners. = ney are nddente
Mr. Waterhouse has remarked that the nostrils do not extend so far forwards, that t vey are hic by
the feathers of the head, and that there is no longitudinal groove in front of them, as in other
the genus.
Farther than its occurring in most of the recent co

known respecting it; not even the localities it frequents in th
nt to Europe; on the other hanc

species of

llections sent from Santa Fe de Bogota, nothing 1s
e creat Andean Range. But little difference
1 ; 1. they differ considerably in size,
Is Observable in the colouring of the birds se , they

the smaller birds being probably females.

The figures are of the natural size.