114 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



in exchange ten years later. In the trade it is quite 

 likely that it may have been confounded with the 



typical Sulphur-breasted bird. 



SWAINSOX'S TOUCAN* (Rhamphastos tocard). 



General colour black ; neck and upper back washed 

 with maroon ; upper tail-coverts white ; below, throat 

 and neck sulphur-yellow, bordered behind by a scarlet 

 band; under tail-coverts scarlet; upper mandible 

 crossed from nostrils to tomium by a diagonal black 

 line, above which it is yellow and -below it more or lees 

 red ; irides red. Female not differentiated, but doubt- 

 less smaller, with shorter and less tapering bill. Hab., 

 " Nicaragua. Costa Rica, Panama, and Western 

 Ecuador." (Sclater.) 



Stolzmann observes ("Taczanowski's Ornitbologie du 

 Perou," Vol. III., p. 146) : "I suppose that the name 

 of this bird, dios-te-de, is derived from the plaintive 

 note which, to a certain extent, resembles those words, 

 Accentuating the letters of the word dios and e de. One 

 'hears it in the forest throughout the day, especially in 

 the morning and evening. It is equally social to the 

 other Rhamphastidce. I have also found it betweeai 

 Omia and Sorritor, at 4,500 feet elevation." 



Mr. W. Goodfellow says (The Ibis, 1902, p. 215) : 

 - Although this Toucan was fairly numerous at Sanito 

 Domingo, we only secured two males during our stay 

 there. It was very shy, 'and kept to the highest trees, 

 generally in flocks of from eight to a dozen. Iris pafle 

 blue, bare skin round the eye yellowish-green ; lower 

 mandible black, upper mandible yellow, shaded with 

 iblue and green down the centre. The Ecuadorians call 

 these birds ' Predieadores' or 'Dios-te-de.'" 



This is all I have found respecting the wild life. A 

 specimen reached the London Zoological Gardens in 

 August, 1876. but Dr. Russ appears to have overlooked 

 the fact. 



RED-BILLED TOUCAN (Rhamphastos erythrorhynchus). 



Black ; upper tail-coverts yellow ; throat and neck 

 white ; a pectoral band and under tail-coverts scarlet ; 

 (bill red, with a broad yellow band margined with black 

 at base ; tip of lower mandible black (according to 

 Reichenau a bright bluish, black-margined tra.nsveirse 

 band) ; feet black ; irides blue-grey ; orbital patch 

 bright blue. Female smaller than the male, with dis- 

 tinctly shorter bill, less curved at the tip. Hab., Guiana. 

 Lower Amazon, and N. Bra/il. 



Dr. Emil A. Goeldi (The Ibis, 1897, pp. 157-158) says : 

 iking is the difference in the cry of Rhamphastos 

 frythrorhynchus compared with that of R. ariel and 

 R. discolorus. It is particularly soft, nearly melodious, 

 and may be tolerably interpreted by the syllables tiu- 

 fhi-fii-fu-fii." 



This species arrived at the London Gardens in 1859 

 and in 1874 ; it has also been exhibited in the Berlin 

 Gardens. 



CUVIER'S TOUCAN (Rhamphastos cuvieri). 



'General colour black ; upper toil-coverts orange, some- 

 times washed with scarlet ; throat and neck whiite, 

 sometimes washed with lemon-yellow behind ; pectoral 

 band and under tail-coverts scarlet _; bill black, with 

 ihe culmen and a basal band yellowish ; irides orange- 

 yellow ; naked orbital patch blue. Female not dif- 

 ferentiated, but probably slightly smaller than the 

 male, and with shorter bill. HaJb., "Colombia, Ecuador, 

 and Upper Amazonia." (Sclater.) 



Stolzmann says (Taczanowski's " Ornithologie du 



* In " How to Sex Cage-birds," I adopted the name " Doubt- 

 ful Toucan," used in the Zoological Society's List, but this 

 ought certainly to be used preferably for E. ambiguus. 



Perou," Vol. III., p. 147): "This Toucan keeps in 

 small companies, more rarely in pairs or alone. Like 

 the other representatives of the family, it remains chiefly 

 on tall trees, rarely descending to the lower branches. 

 Ite_ voice nearly resembles that of R. tocard, but is 

 a little more simple, composed of two notes. It is a 

 very restless bird, though clumsy in its actions, or, at 

 any rate, its beak gives it that appearance." 



-Mr. Walter Goodfellow (The Ibis, 1903, pp. 215, 

 216) says : " A series of males and females from the Rio 

 Xapo, where they were extremely numerous. This 

 was remarkable, for the Indians slaughtered them by 

 the hundred, and at certain seasons organised expedi- 

 tions especially for lulling them. I have seen them 

 return from these expeditions with many hundreds of 

 smoked Toucans, which they keep to eat out of tha 

 iiruit 'season, when game is scarce. When the fruit is 

 ripe on certain forest trees, the Indian lads are sent to 

 make a temporary dwelling under the branches, and 

 they take up their abode there while the fruit lasts. 

 each boy selecting a tree to himself. With their silent 

 blowpipes they pick off all birds that come there i.> 

 'feed. Considering this wholesale slaughter, it is a 

 wonder that this Toucan and many other birds have not 

 long ago become extinct, in the Napo region at any 

 rate. The Indians use the feathers for decorating their 

 weapons and .persons, while from the bills they carve 

 quaint necklaces. The bare skin around the e\ 

 shaded Oxford blue. Indian name, 'Dumbiqui.' When 

 >we were on the Napo we only met this Toucan singly or 

 in pairs." 



The first example of Cuvier's Toucan reached the 

 London Zoological Gardens in December, 1871, and a 

 second in October, 1875 ; it has also been represented 

 in the Berlin Gardens. 



KEEL-BILLED TOUCAN (RhampJiastos culminatu?) . 



A smaller representative of the preceding, with much 

 smaller and differently shaped bill. Hab., "Eastern 

 Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia." (Sclater.) 

 I have found no notes on the wild life of this bird. A 

 specimen arrived at the Berlin Zoological Gardens in 

 1897. 



ARIEL TOUCAN (RhampJiastos ariel). 



Black ; upper tail-coverts scarlet ; whole throat and 

 neck orange ; a broad pectoral band and the under tail- 

 coverts scarlet; bill black, with a 'basal yellow band, 

 the culmen blue-grey at base ; feet leaden-grey, with 

 black claws ; irides bluish ; naked orbital patch dark 

 red. Female with shorter bill, with shorter terminal 

 curvature ; the flattened basal portion of the culmen 

 often considerably 'broader, but this may not be a 

 reliable character. Hab., Eastern Brazil. 



Burmeister (" Systematic che Uebersicht," Vol. II., 

 p. 206) says : " In the coastal forest region this species 

 is the commonest ; one even meets with it in the vicinity 

 of Rio de Janeiro, and especially in the forests on the 

 Organ Mountains. At New Freiburg I have seen many 

 examples, and once also a young bird which was fed 

 with potatoes, mandioc, and Spanish potatoes. The 

 Brazilians frequently trap the bird, because its flesh 

 affords them agreeable food. Cooked with rice, the 

 dish resembles a good pigeon broth, and is quite tasty. 

 By the Indians the beautiful yellow gorget is especially 

 utilised as an adornment, but the bird is in like manner 

 generally eaten by them." 



This bird first arrived at the London Zoological 

 Gardens in 1859, since when many have come to hand ; 

 it reached the Amsterdam Gardens still earlier in 1853. 

 Prince Ferdinand oi Bulgaria pcssrs.sed it in 1878, when 

 it was to be seen in moist naturalists' establishments; 



