| k f this fine species in a Sta Cc of na ure, and he Cxten ol Its range over th g
S ri Ce <i x AYE frequentl 7 se
C tl 1€ of yuth Amer 1Ca. Examples c y Ss
ee : | ] i S Tr / locali i farther O h nor hs he oreat delta of |
1e for sts W h lo t 8 € t e

but even here it would seem that it is not universally spread,

nt from Cayenne both to this country and to

France
Amazon, that 1s,
the situations in which it 1s

since Mr. Wallace informs ine that it is not seen in the immet rho
“1 the islands on the Guiana side of the river. Mr. Wallace also found it higher up the Amazon, as well
in the islan ‘

‘1 the same districts on the River Madeira that are inhabited by the Pteroglossus Beauharnaisi or Curl.
St > Si !
hat he usually observed it in small groups, three or four in number, and that

most numerous ; ver
liate neighbourhood of Para, while it is common

crested Aracari, and states t )
dicated by its loud croaking notes. Following up the River Madeira, the

its vicinity was always in he I
I may state that I have myself seen skins from the borders of

tributaries of which commence in the Andes,
in Bolivia, and it 1s spoken of by Azara as an inhabitant of Paraguay.
t ‘ S y

these streams anit ant
ighness the Prince Maximilian of Wied, and the late M. John Natterer,

It is from the pens of His H
that we derive the greatest amount of information respecting this species. Both these naturalists observed
it in Brazil, which may be considered its central habitat.

“This species,” says Prince Maximilian, “is never found near the coast, but is plentiful in the interior of
the province of Minas Geraes and Bahia; that it is also abundant in the southern part of Brazil is proved by
Mr. Sellow having found it in considerable numbers in latitude 32°S. Those observed in the vicinity of
Bahia were very shy, the result of their having been repeatedly fired at by the inhabitants in defence of their
fruit-trees, and to procure them for food ; notwithstanding which, the desire to feed upon the oranges
and guavas induced them to approach very near the town at the season when those fruits were ripening.

‘« Very pretty little powder-flasks are occasionally made of their large and finely coloured bills.”

M. Natterer, who first met with it in the province of St. Paul’s and afterwards on the road to Goyaz and
Mattogrosso, on the banks of the Amazon and on the Upper Rio Branco, remarks that it will probably be
found in all parts of Brazil, and believes that the bird prefers woods adjoining sandy plains, for he more
than once met with it in low steppe-coppices, where ripe fruits were to be found. He generally met with
it in small families, and observed that the bill varied in length according to the age or sex of the bird, and
that the note was deeper than that of all the other members of the family. It resembles grrr or grrra.

I find the following note with regard to the nidification of this species in Edwards’s entertaining “‘ Voyage

up the Amazon ”—* The nests of Toucans are represented in works of Natural History as being constructed
in the hollows of trees. It may be so in many cases and with some species. The only nest we ever saw,
which was of the Toco Toucan, was in the fork of a large tree over the water upon the Amazon.” The
only observation I have to make on this passage is, that it is desirable that the nidification of the bird
should be detailed by other observers before full reliance be placed upon the assertion that the bird makes
a ae for the hollows of decayed trees are the usual incubating places of all the Toucans.
a pee ‘ ee eS assmmila ting in their colouring and markings,
nearly a third smaller than the male; the - aes : one He fel
Brehereen cot, aunoet pulpy bill . re a, irds ee the colouring of the adult at a very early age,

The Plate represents a male al a femal € line co curing and the denticulations are merely indicated.

é ale of the natural size.