COMMON TOUCAN.— fltamjiVwtos Ariel 



The beak partakes of the brilliant colouring which decorates the plumage, but its 

 beautiful hues are sadly evanesceut, ofteu disappearing or changing so thoroughly as to 

 give no intimation of their former beauty. The prevailing colour seems to be yellow, and 

 the next in order is red, but there is hardly a hue that is not found on the boak of one or 

 other of the species. As e.xamples of the colouring of the beaks, we will mention the 

 following species. In the Toco Toucan it is bright ruddy orange, with a large black oval 

 spot near the extremity ; in the Short-billed Toucan it is light green, edged and tipped with 

 red ; in the Tocard Toucan it is orange above and chocolate below ; in the Ecd-billed 

 Toucan it is light scarlet and yellow ; in Cuvier's Toucan it is bright j'ellow and black, 

 with a lilac base ; in the Curl-crested Ara^ari it is orange, blue, chocolate, and white ; in 

 the Yellow-billed Toucan it is wholly of a creamy yellow, while in Azara's Ara(;ari it is 

 cream-white with a broad blood-red stripe along the middle. Perhaps the most remarkable 

 bill of all the species is found in the Laminated Hill Toucan (AnJi<jcna lami'iidtiis), 

 where the bill is Idack, with a blood-red base, and has a large buff-coloured shield of horny 

 substance at each side of the upper mandible, the end next the base being fused into the 

 beak, and the other end free. The use of this singular, and I believe unitiue, appendage 

 is not known. 



