584 The Roller-like Birds 



on the back and the bill tucked under the short feathers of the wings and shoulders. 

 It appears that the tail bones are articulated by a regular ball-and-socket joint, 

 which permits great freedom of movement, and the tail is elevated with such 

 a jerk as to suggest the notion that it is "operated as by a spring." 



The nesting habits of the Toucans are not very well known, but so far as 

 present information goes the eggs are always deposited in hollow trees. They 

 are regularly oval in shape, pure white, of a fine grain and slightly shining. 



The Toucans range in length from twelve to twenty-four inches, though the 

 average length is perhaps between fourteen and eighteen inches. The genus 

 Rhamphastos, which comprises some fourteen species, includes the largest forms, 

 one of the most widely distributed and best-known being the Toco (R. toco), 

 which ranges from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. It is black above 

 and below, with the rump, throat, and fore neck white slightly tinged with yellow 

 on the neck, which is narrowly bordered with red. The crissum is crimson 

 and the bill orange with a large black spot at the base of the upper mandible; 

 the total length of this species is twenty-two inches, of which the tail comprises 

 six inches and the bill nearly six and a half inches. The Toco is said by Hudson 

 to commit great havoc among the orange groves in northern Argentina. Closely 

 allied to the last but slightly smaller and having the throat and fore neck clear 

 yellow, is the Keeled Toucan (R. carinatus] of Central America, while the Ariel 

 (R. ariel] of eastern Brazil belongs to a group in which the upper tail-coverts 

 are scarlet and the bill black with a lighter basal band. The latter species is 

 exceedingly abundant in many places along the Amazon, particularly in autumn, 

 where they congregate in vast flocks, and on alighting in a tree one is posted as 

 a sentinel, while the others disperse over the branches in search of fruit. 



Perhaps most closely related to members of the last genus are the five or 

 six species of the genus Andigena, which are known as Hill Toucans, since all 

 but one of the forms inhabit the high forests of the Andes, the exception being 

 Andigena bailloni of southeastern Brazil, which is also anomalous in coloration, 

 its general plumage being yellow, whereas in the others the general coloration 

 below is bluish gray. The most remarkable member of the genus is the Lami- 

 nated Hill Toucan (A. laminirostris} of Ecuador and Peru, which has a peculiar 

 raised buff-colored plate on either side of the upper mandible, just in front of the 

 blood-red basal band. About seventeen inches in length, this species is a clear 

 olive-brown above with the head and nape black, the rump lemon-yellow, and 

 blue below with a flank spot of yellow, while the bill is black with the above- 

 mentioned scarlet band at the base. Very little is known of its habits. 



The most brilliant and diversified members of the family are the so-called 

 Aracaris, which to the number of eighteen species comprise the genus Ptero- 

 glossus. They have a plumage of green, scarlet, and yellow, often arranged in 

 patches of marked contrast, while the great bill is equally strongly marked. 

 Perhaps the finest species indeed by some it is regarded as one of the hand- 

 somest members of the entire Neotropical contingent is the Curl-crested 

 Aracari (P. beauharnaisi) of upper Amazonia, which has the upper parts dark 

 green with the upper back and rump edged with crimson, while the feathers 



