RAMPHASTOS DICOLORUS, Gee.

Green-billed Toucan.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

» Ramph. rostro viridi-luteo, marginibus serratis rubris, fascia lata basali nieré ; pectore auran-

, 5 nara ee, y : ee . s
traco, lined sulphured cincto ; abdomine caudceque tectrictbus coccineis.

Crown of the head, back, wings, tail, flanks, thighs and vent black glossed with steel-blue ;
chin and throat delicate primrose-yellow, with a large gorget-like mark of rich orange in
the centre; abdomen, upper and under tail-coverts blood-red ; bill greenish yellow, be-
coming of a more pure yellow on the culmen; both mandibles surrounded at the base by
a broad band of black; orbits red; immediately behind the nostrils a small patch of
yellow feathers; irides greenish yellow, the green tint predominating so as to form a ring
next the pupil; eyelash greyish blue; feet blue.

Total length, 18 inches; dzl/, 33; wing, 7+; tazl, 64; tarsi, 1%.

Ramphastos dicolorus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 152.—Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat. tom. 1.
p- 356.—Lath. Ind. Orn., tom. i. p. 135.—Swains. Zool. Ill., vol. 11. pl. 108.—
Jard. and Selby, Hl. Orn. vol. i. pl. 29.—Turt. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. 1.
p. 211.—Wagl. Syst. Av., Ramphastos, sp. 14.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 173,
Ramphastos, sp. 14.—Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., Part III. p. 1429. pl. 107, fig. 3
—Gould, Mon. of oe pl. 11.—Ib., Sturm’s Edit., pl. .—Gray and Mitch.
Gen. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 403, Ramphastos, sp. 11—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av.,

p. 93, Ramphastos, sp. 14.

 

chlororhynchus, Temm. Man. d’Orn., tom. 1. p. Ixxvi.

 

pectoralis, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. vi. p. 365.

Le Tucai, Azara, Voy. dans YAmér. Mér. Sonn. Edit., tom. 1. p. (a3) IN@. ILIL

Toucan a gorge jaune, Bute Pi Bole 26902). bist des bee tom. vil. p. 118.
Yellow-throated Toucan, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. i. p. 325.—Ib. Gen. Hist. vol. 11. p. 282.

Le Petit Toucan a ventre rouge, Levaill. Hist. Nat. des Ois. de Parad., tom. ii. p. 22. pl. 8.
Ramphastos Tucai, Licht. Verz. der Doubl., p. 7 . No. 23.—Wagl. Syst. Av., Ramphastos,

2

sp. 13.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 173, hee sp. 13.

 

 

Ir is the opinion of ornithologists generally that this bird is referable to the Ramphastos dicolorus of Lin-

neeus and Gmelin, under which a relnien I have accordingly retained it: if such be the case, it is certain
that the habitat assigned to it by those authors (Cayenne) is decidedly incorrect; the true habitat of the
species being the southern portions of Brazil and Paraguay, all, or nearly all the specimens which reach

this country, coming by way of Rio de Janeiro. Mr. Natterer shot it in the forests on the road to San

Paulo, but never observed it farther to the southward than the 25th degree of south latitude. It is very
well described by Azara, who mentions that he met with it in the dense woods, but gives no account of its

habits.

The 2. dicolorus may be readily d
It is so extremely common, that no collection need be without examples.

ate in which they are barely capable of providing

istinguished from every other known species by its greenish yellow bill

and by its scarlet abdomen.

 

The two lower figures represent young birds in that st
for their own wants; the bill at this age is extremely delicate in
apparently to require the most soft and pulpy fr wits, to which in all probability insects and their larve are
added. It will be seen that in this youthful state the plumage has assumed the almost perfect colouring,
adult, and I believe that the same law prevails with

regard to the other species of the family. In this respect they closely resemble the Kingfishers and other
and incubating in dark recesses, especially the holes

texture, and is so soft and yielding as

the tints being scarcely less brilliant than those of the

Fissirostral birds, as they also do in laying white eggs
of trees.
The sexes are alike in colouring, but the female is somewhat smaller than the male.

The figures are of the natural size.