526 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 2 



smaller keel-billed toucan, but in voice it is entirely different. It is 

 also more retiring, as it tends to remain hidden and is less often seen. 

 The call note which resembles the syllables dios-te-de, te-de-te-de, 

 while frequently repeated and one of far reaching sound, is not 

 given as constantly or monotonously as that of the other large species. 

 As it is uttered the bill is swung back and forth and tail is jerked up 

 and down. It is from this note that it is given its common Spanish 

 name of Dios-te-de. The devout say that as the bird calls it makes 

 the sign of the cross with its bill. In addition to this usual note it 

 utters a low grunting sound, and a still lower rattle. 



These toucans are mainly fruit feeders like others of the family, 

 but also take the long filaments of the flowers of the guarumo (C ecto- 

 pia). Skutch (Sci. Monthl., 1940, p. 506) says that they "are insatiable 

 nest-robbers." Laughlin (Condor, 1952, pp. 138-139) saw one visit 

 the nest of a tooth-billed kite, and, with the owner present, take one 

 of the eggs and swallow it. 



This species and the keel-billed toucan are hunted regularly by both 

 Cuna and Choco Indians. Bennett, in a study of the Cuna at Acandi, 

 in Colombia (Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geogr., 1962, p. 41) in a 2-week 

 period counted 57 toucans that were killed as food. He lists these as 

 the keel-billed species, but I believe it probable that the larger Swain- 

 son's toucan was included, since this is the one that decoys readily. 

 For this the hunter, Indian or Panamanian, places a bit of folded 

 platanillo (Heliconia) leaf between the lips, and with it produces a 

 loud, rasping sound that calls the birds to the trees overhead, where 

 they peer down curiously. I have eaten the large toucans from time 

 to time in camp when other game was scarce, and have found the 

 meat dark in color but excellent in taste. 



No report on the nesting of this species has come to my attention. 



To the north this toucan ranges through Costa Rica and Nicaragua 

 to southeastern Honduras, to the south across northern Colombia to 

 the middle Magdalena Valley, and along the western slope to western 

 Ecuador. 



[Ridgway (U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 50, pt. 6, 1914, p. 339) listed 

 Panama in the range of the closely similar Ramphastos ambiguus 

 Swainson from an ancient specimen of uncertain history as to its 

 locality in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. This has led to 

 inclusion of this species among the birds of the Republic by Griscom 

 (Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 78, 1935, p. 329), and by Eisenmann 

 (Trans. Linn. Soc. New York, vol. 7, 1955, p. 55). This species, which 

 is similar to swainsonii in size and color, differing in bill color in 



