TOUCANS. 



113 



a cage, but should have a small aviary to itself, or a 

 large one in company with other powerful birds. 



SULPHUR-BREASTED TOUCAN (Rhamphastos carinatus). 



General colour black ; nape washed with maroon- 

 purple ; rump white ; throat and fore-neck yellow, 

 edged behind with reddish ; under tail-coverts scarlet ; 

 " bill dark with red tip and a large yellow blotch _on 

 upper mandible,"* bright green with blue cast, with 

 red tip, narrowly black-edged at base, a wedge-shaped 

 red spot at base of upper mandible. Female much 

 smaller, and with an altogether shorter and more 

 abruptly terminated bill. Hab., " Southern Mexico, 



examples have been exhibited at the Gardens. A speci- 

 men in the Berlin Gardens was studied as regards the 

 colouring of the soft parts with the following result : 

 " Bill bright green with bluish showing through it, with 

 red tip, narrowly bordered with black at the base; at 

 the base of the upper mandible a cuneiform red spot, 

 which also, towards the front, appears to be shaded 

 with deeper red ; eyes brown-black ; naked orbital 

 region torquoise-blue, with greenish reflection ; feet 

 Iblue-grey." 



SHORT-BILLED TOTJCAN (Rhamphastos brevicarinatus) . 

 Differs from the preceding in the better defined and 



OUTLINES OF HEADS OF MALE AND FEMALE OF Selenidera maculirostris 



TO ILLUSTRATE THE SEXUAL DIFFERENCES IN BEAKS OF TOUCANS. 



Yucatan, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua." 

 (Sclater.) 



Mr. A. Boucard, writing on the " Birds of Yucatan," 

 "Proceedings of the Zoological Society," 1883, p. 455), 

 remarks: "Said to be very common in all parts of 

 the State, though I have not found this to be the case. 

 Only six specimens have been observed by me during 

 the year. It is also said to go in immense flocks, but 

 I have only seen solitary individuals. It lives upon 

 fruits, and is found in the forest, rarely in the settle- 

 ments, and never in the towns." 



The first specimen of this Toucan was purchased by 

 the London Zoological Society in 1860, since when many 



* Solater in catalogue. 



broader collar on the nape ; it is also smaller and has 

 a shorter bill. Female smaller than male; her bill is 

 considerably shorter, with more arched culmen, but with 

 shorter and more abruptly-formed terminal hook. Hab., 

 " Costa Rica, Veragua, Panama, and Northern 

 Colombia." (Sclater.) 



Dr. O. Finsch (" Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society," 1870, p. 585) regards this as a mere variation 

 of the preceding, and states that the reddish nuchal 

 band varies in individuals. It is probably a local race 

 differing somewhat in size and form of bill ; whether 

 the colouring of the soft parts differs remains to be seen. 

 I have found no published account of the wild life. A 

 specimen was presented to the London Zoological 

 Gardens in October, 1884, and a second was received 



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