Journey through Colombia and Ecuador. 215 



is most marked when the skins ure placed side by side. The 

 western bird has the bill yellow with a greenish base and 

 the bare skin around the eyes greeni.sh yellow ; while the 

 eastern bird has the base of the bill blackish and the skin 

 around the eyes coral-red. Both have the iris crimson. At 

 Santo Domingo and San Nicolas, in Western Ecuador, we 

 found these birds very numerous in flocks of from 15 to 20, 

 looking remarkably pretty as they skimmed from bush to 

 bush without any apparent movement of the wings, their long 

 outspread tails shewing the conspicuous white tips down 

 each side. They are not forest-frequenting birds, but prefer 

 the open hill-sides and neglected clearings. On the eastern 

 side of Ecuador we found them plentiful by the Rio Cosanga 

 below Baeza, and also by the Coca Uiver. Some of the 

 Indians used the tails spread out to form head-dresses. 



473. PiAYA MiNUTA (Vicill.). 



Two males from Santo Domingo. Much rarer than the 

 preceding species. Eyelids red ; bill yellow, slightly shaded 

 with green. 



474. CoccYzus MELANocoRYPHUs (Vieiil.). 



Two males and a female from the Coca. These birds are 

 solitary in their habits, and frequent the Indian clearings, 

 taking their prey on the wing. 



Fam. Rhamphastid^. 



475. Rhamphastos tocard Vieiil. 



Although this Toucan was fairly numerous at Santo 

 Domingo, we only secured two males during our stay there. 

 It was very shy and kept to the highest trees, generally 

 in flocks of from eight to a dozen. Iris pale blue, bare skin 

 round the eye yellowish green ; lower mandible black, 

 upper mandible yellow, shaded with blue and green down 

 the centre. The Ecuadorians call these birds " Predica- 

 dores " or " Dios-te-de." 



476. Rhamphastos cuvieri Wagl. 



A series of males and females from the Rio Napo, where 

 they were extremely numerous. This was remarkable, for 



