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forests, but sometimes, towards evening, they might be met with

in the highest trees on the edges of the clearings. We procured

specimens from Santo Domingo, and other places about the

same level. I once had a remakably fine specimen brought to

me, which had had its bill and tongue shot off (I presume) to

within a short distance of the base, otherwise the bird was in

perfect condition ; but it was a marvel how it had managed to feed.

The bill was irregularly broken away, and this had evidently

been done a long time previously. The Ecuadorians call all

Toucans “ Predicadores,” preachers, or “ Deos tede”—God gives

it thee; and throughout the whole country these are the only

names they know them by. The first name they receive from

the habit they are said to have of bowing and nodding about,

which, to the Ecuadorians, conveys the idea of a preacher ; but

to me they never suggested that. The latter still more extra¬

ordinary name is, perhaps, slightly more appropriate, for in

jerking the food down their throats, they certainly do, with the

aid of a little imagination, make the sign of the Cross by the

movements of the head, and “Dios te de” the natives say as

they cross themselves before meals.


Far more numerous than the preceding species, are the

P. erythropygia. These birds we shot constantly from our hut at

Santo Domingo. They vary much in the intensity of their

colours, and in the size of their bills, in both sexes. The bill is

very much hooked, and of a cream colour, red at the base and

black along the edge of the upper mandible, yellow at the tip of

same, and slaty black at the tip of the lower mandible. At the

base of the bill is a raised narrow white border. An average

length of bill is 4f inches, measured along the side from base

to tip. The colours in these birds are very varied. The head,

neck, and throat are glossy black ; the breast yellow and freely

flecked with red. A band of black crosses it, also freely mixed

with red. The thighs are chestnut brown, the rump scarlet; and

the wings and tail olive green, except the primaries, which are

brown. The under side of the tail feathers is a much lighter

green than the upper. The bare skin round the eyes is bright

red shaded into blue, the iris creamy yellow, the pupil dark

green, and the legs and feet olive. The length of the bird,

without the bill, is 13A- inches, of which the tail measures 6 1

inches. We constantly saw these Toucans feeding amongst

Tanagers and still smaller birds. I never saw any of them in

captivit)" among the natives, nor any other Toucans either, 011

this side.



