TOUCANS. 



11.-) 



an bhat year Miss Bagenbeck exhibited it at an exhibi- 

 tion of the "JSgiratlha " Society at Berlin. 



SULPHUR AND WHITE BREASTED TOUCAN 

 (Rhamphastos vitellinus). 



Black ; upper tail-coverts scariest ; throat and sides of 

 nedc white ; fore-neck yellow ; a broad pectoral band 

 and the under -tail-coverts scarlet ; bill black, with a 

 paile blue basal band on under mandible, tomaum white ; 

 naked orbital patch blue. Female smaller than male, 

 and with a considerably shorter bill. Bab , "Trinidad, 

 Venezuela, Guiana, and Lower Amazonia (folater). 



I have found no notes respecting the wild Me of this 

 bird It was purchased by the London Zoological 

 Society in 1872, and seems not to have reached any other 

 public gardens. 



GRKEN-BILLED TOUCAN (Rhamphaslos dicolorus). 

 Black ; upper tail-coverte scarlet ; cheeks, throat, and 

 breast pale brimstone-yellow with a central orange 

 patch; upper half of abdomen, and under tail-coverts 

 scarlet ; bill pale green with a black basal band', tomium 

 bright red; feet dark leaden grey with black claws; 

 evelids blue; irides grey-blue with green reflections; 

 naked orbital patch vermilion. Female apparently with 

 longer and somewhat narrower bill than the male, the 

 sexual differences being reversed in this species. Hab., 

 "S.E. Brazil and Paraguay." (Sclater.) 



Burmeister says (" Systematische Uebersicht,"_ Vol. 

 II., p. 205) : "This Toucan is the commonest species in 

 the' regions of the interior which I have visited. I re- 

 ceived it in Minas Geraes at all places where I stayed 

 for a moderate time ; one also hears its rattling voice 

 continuously in tihe woods, and not infrequently has the 

 opportunity of seeing the bird at roost in the distance, 

 its varied plumage making it easily recognisable. In 

 the neighbourhood of forest it appears to be absent, 

 since Prince Wied did not observe it. Its mode of life 

 presents nothing unique ; 'the trapped young bird which 

 I possessed for a long time preferred to eat cooked pota- 

 toes and roots of manioc, which, however, had to be 

 offered to him to induce him to accept them ; old birds 

 will neither let themselves be caught nor tamed." 



This well-known Toucan first arrived at our London 

 Gardens in 1876, since when it has been exhibited in 

 many other public gardens, at bird shows, and has been, 

 owned t>y various aviculturists. 



CAYENNE ARACARI (Pteroglossus aracari). 



Above dark, almost metallic, green ; rump scarlet ; 

 head and nape, throat and neck black ; ear-coverts with 

 a wash of chestnut ; below pale yellow ; a scarlet ven- 

 tral band ; flanks and under tail-coverts rufescent 

 green; upper mandible yellowish white with a broad 

 black stripe on the ridge and a black basal streak; 

 lower mandible black with a narrow white basal line ; 

 feet greenish -grey ; irides brown ; naked orbital region 

 elate-black. Female not differentiated. Hab., " Guiana, 

 Cayenne, Surinam, and Lower Amazonia." (Sclater.) 



Prince Maximilian of Wied met with it in primeval 

 forest, and describes its manner of life as similar to 

 that of other Toucans ; he saw it in numbers roosting 

 on the uppermost dry branches of forest trees, from 

 which its short two-syllabled note, somewhat like 

 " Kulik Kulik," sounded. As a trule it lives in pairs, 

 but after the breeding season in small flocks, which 

 wander about in search of fruits. In the cool part of 



the year, when, most fruits are ripe, they often leave 

 the woods and approach the coasts and plantations, 

 where many of them are killed on account of their flesh, 

 which 'is pleasant tasting and' also plump in the cool 

 season. They fly archwise and jerkily like the other 

 Toucans, and flap little with their wings ; when at roost, 

 like the European Magpie, they beat up and down with 

 the tail. The nest is found in holes in trees or branches 

 with only two eggs. They pursue and drive off with 

 abuse birds of prey, and especially Owls (cf. Rues, 

 "Die Fremdlandischen Stubenvogel," Vol. II., pp. 650, 

 651). 



Russ eays that this species reaches their market ex- 

 tremely rarely ; it arrived at the Amsterdam. 1 Gardens 

 in 1882, and' is at present in the Berlin Gardens. 



MAXIMILIAN'S ARACARI (Pteroglossus wierli). 



Differs from the preceding in the narrow stripe on the 

 culmen and greener thighs. Female rather smaller than 

 male, with smaller bill, the culminal stripe often, but 

 perhaps not always, wider, especially at the base. Hab. , 

 "Lower Amazonia and S.E. Brazil." (P. L. Sclater.) 



Burmeister says ("Systematische Uebersicht," Vol. 

 II., pp. 207, 208) : " In'the whole tract of Brazil which 

 I travelled over this bird is common ; one finds it 

 abundantly in pairs sitting quietly on isolated trees, 

 and from time to time hears its cry Kulik, Kulik. Its 

 flocks are not in great numbers, five to six, rarely more. 

 The bird is not very shy, and in its behaviour much re- 

 sembles the Magpie ; like it it beats with its tail and flies 

 in the same jerky manner, with short quick flaps of the 

 wing ; it also delights in attacking birds of prey, especi- 

 ally Owls, and abuses them like Jackdaws." 



The London Zoological Society first secured this bird 

 in 1872, after which others came to hand from time to 

 time. It seems to be merely a local race of P. aracari. 



BANDED ARACARI (Pteroglossus torquatus). 



Above dark green; a narrow chestnut collar on the 

 back of neck ; rump scarlet ; head, throat, and neck 

 black ; below pale yellow ; a black spot on chest ; breast 

 more or less washed with crimson ; a black abdominal 

 band more or less varied with crimson ; thighs chestnut ; 

 bill black, with the upper mandible pale yellow, except- 

 ing on culmen and towards tip, a narrow white basal 

 line ; irides yellow ; naked orbital region, blue-green in 

 front, red behind. Female slightly smaller, with a con- 

 siderably shorter bill having the tip less curved, the 

 culminal stripe sometimes narrower than in the male. 

 Hab., "Southern Mexico and Central America down to 

 Panama; also Northern Columbia and Venezuela." 

 (P. L. Sclater.) 



Mr. C. F. Underwood (The Ibis, 1896, p. 445) says 

 that this bird is not so common on the Volcano of Mira- 

 valles as lower down, and this is all I have been able 

 to discover respecting the bird in a state of freedom. 

 The birds of Tropical America generally have been 

 greatly neglected' so far as their life-history is concerned, 

 and I cannot but think that this is to a great extent 

 the fault of those who have made a special study of 

 Neotropical birds ; they have not cared to know any- 

 thing about the habits of the creatures brought home, 

 but have devoted all their efforts to securing large series 

 of skins of numerous species ; necrology (not biology) is 

 their delight. To me life has always been more impor- 

 tant than raiment, and to know something of the habits 

 of an animal far more instructive than to give it a name 

 and put it into its supposed proper place in a list of 



