VI 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 Rhamphastus carinatus, Pteroglossus torquatus, 
Fic. 94.—Ariel Toucan. Rhamphastus ariel. x 3. 
Aulacorhamphus prasinus, and A. waglert reach South Mexico ; 
southwards, Rhamphastus 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 Rhamphastus vitellinus 
extends to Trinidad. Dr. Sclater ' recognises five genera, comprising 
fifty-nine species, the majority inhabiting Amazonia and Guiana. 
The genus Rhamphastus contains fourteen members, with 
1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. 1891, pp. 122-160. 
