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RAMPHASTOS TOCQ, Auct.

Toco Toucan.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Ramph. rostro aurantiaco ; fascia basalt maculaque oval utrinque ad apicem mandibule supertoris
mgris: ater; auribus, guld, pectore, caudeque tectricibus superiortbus albis ; inferioribus
coccinets.

Te ° A : A
Variat torque angusta coccinea.

Beak rich orange, with a basal band of black, and a broad oval spot of the same colour on each

side of the tip of the upper mandible ; irides red; eyelids blue; naked space around the
eyes red; top of the head and the whole of the plumage deep black, with the exception
of the ear-coverts, throat, chest, and upper tail-coverts, which are white, and the under
tail-coverts, which are scarlet; tarsi dull blue. In some examples, the white of the chest is
bordered by a narrow line of scarlet.

Total length, 27 inches ; bell, 77; wings, 10; tail, 7; tarsz, 2.

Toucan de Cayenne, appellé Toco. Buff., Pl. Enl., n. 82.
Ramphastos Toco. Auct.
Be Toco:  Leyaill., Ois. de Parad., 2.p.7.t.2. Azar. m. 50)

Tis magnificent species is one of the largest of the genus, and is remarkable for possessing a bill perhaps
more disproportionate in size than is found in any other, by which circumstance and the rich colouring of the
mandibles it may be at once distinguished. I would here also observe, that it seems to differ slightly from
the rest of the Toucans, in having an unusually short and square tail, covered at its base by large white
feathers. A few years ago this was a species rarely found in cabinets of natural history ; latterly, however, it
has been brought over more abundantly, and may now be met with in every museum of any extent. Though
the Ramphastos Toco has the widest range of any species, being distributed throughout the whole of the wooded
districts from the River Plate to Guiana, it is but thinly dispersed, and, according to the information afforded
me by my friend Dr. Such, is extremely shy, and not procured without considerable difficulty, keeping to the
tops of the highest trees, and exercising the utmost wariness and caution.

As with the rest of the genus, fruits compose the principal part of its food, and among these, it is said to
be extremely partial to the banana.

The sexes offer little or no difference in colour, but the female may be always distinguished by her smaller
size, and the comparatively inferior dimensions of the beak. The general colours of the young are also
similar, but the beak is of course less developed, and is a considerable time before it attains its rich colouring

and perfect size.