RHAMPHASTIDAE 



455 



the colonists and natives, the latter using their plumage to deco- 

 rate their bows or their persons, while the beaks make convenient 

 powder-flasks. They are easily tamed, and become amusing pets. 

 The various forms extend throughout the forests of Tropical America 

 down to the mangrove swamps of the coast, some occurring at an 

 altitude of from six thousand to ten thousand feet on the moun- 

 tains ; northwards Ithamjjhastus carinatus, Pteroglossiis torquatus, 



Fig. 94. — Ariel Toucan. lihamphastus arid. x ^. 



Av.lacorhamphus prasinus, and A. wagleri reach South Mexico ; 

 southwards, Bhamphastus toco ranges to Argentina; but westwards 

 no species crosses the Andes south of the Gulf of Guayaquil. They 

 are not represented in the Antilles, though Bhamphastus vitellinus 

 extends to Trinidad. Dr. Sclater ^ recognises five genera, comprising 

 tifty-nine species, the majority inhabiting Amazonia and Guiana. 

 The genus Bhamphastus contains fourteen members, with 

 1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. 1891, pp. 122-160. 



