CAPITO. — RAMPHASTUS. 451 



Eggs. Undescfibed from British Guiana. 



Range in British Guiana. Ituribisi River, Supenaam River, 

 Bartica, Makauria River, Anarika River, Mazaruni River, Arwye 

 River, Arawai River, Tiger Creek (McConnell collection') ; Kama- 

 kusa, Bartica, Kamarang River, Ourunei ( Whitehj) ; Knrnaka 

 (^Scliomlmrgk). 



Extralimital Range. Cayenne (P. L. S. Muller\ Venezuela. 



Habits. Schomburgk mentions (Reis. Guian. iii. p. 720) this bird 

 as being lively, living in small companies, and continually roam- 

 ing through the open woods. He met with large numbers near 

 Kumaka; after that only small numbers were seen. Its favourite 

 haunt was the cecropia tree, which grew near the villages, and 

 where sixteen to twenty individuals every morning, in company 

 with other birds, hunted for insects in the most alert manner — 

 these last being their staple food. 



Family RAMPHASTID^. 



The Toucans are among the largest of the Picarice in the New 

 World, and are distinguished from all others of this group in the 

 Western Hemisphere by the large size and peculiar shape of their 

 bills, which vary in length from about nine inches in the longer 

 to about two inches in the smaller ones. The wings are fairly long. 

 The tail in some is short and square, while in others it is long and 

 graduate. The legs are short, and the feet are zygodactyle — having 

 two toes in front and two behind. 



The family consists of five genera and about sixty species, all of 

 which are confined to Central and South America — from Mexico 

 to Argentina. Four genera and nine species are represented in 

 British Guiana. The Toucans, like the Woodpeckers, usually nest 

 in hollow trees. 



Genus RAMPHASTUS Linn. 



RamphaHtos Linne, Syst. Nat. 10th ed. i. p. 103, 1758. Type R. pipri- 

 vorits (Liiiri.j. 



The members of this genus are distinguished by their larger size, 

 large bills, black plumage, short, square, or slightly rounded 

 tiiils, and by having the nostrils placed at the back of tlic casque. 

 Tlie first and second primaries are incised. 



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