F.AMniAsTrs. . 4;')3 



309. Rampliastus toco. 

 Toco ToucAx. 



BampTiasfos foco P. L. S. Miill. Syst. Xat. Suppl. p. 82, 1776 (Cayenne); 



Cah. in Schomb. Eeis. Gviian. iii. p. 721, 1848; BroAvn, Canoe and 



Camp Life, p. 4, 1876 (Cm^mi Eiver) ; Salvin, Ibis, 1886, p. 65 ; 



Quelch, Timehri (2) ii. p. 355, 1888 (Tio-er Island) ; Sclater, Cat. 



B. Brit. Mus. six. p. 124, 1891 (British Guiana) ; Brabom-ne & 



Chubb, B. S. Amer. i. p. 156, no. 1523, 1912. 

 ? Eed-breasted Toucan, Beebe, Our Search for a Wilderness, p. 275 



(Hoorie Creek), 1910. 



*' Toco bill-bird " {QuelcJi). 



Adult male. General colour above and below black; upper 

 tail-coverts, cheeks, throat, and fore-neck white, the last tinged 

 with yellow, and a faint pink band on the edge dividing the black 

 of the breast; under tail-coverts red. 



Total length 590 mm., culmen 196, from gape 182, wing 242, 

 tail 146, tarsus 53. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male. Wino- 237 mm. 



The male from which the description is taken was collected on 

 the Abary River, and the female at Miritiba, N.E. Brazil. The 

 latter is in the collection at the Biitish Museum. 



Breeding-seasion . Unknown in British (juiana. 



Kest. It nests in holes of trees (ScJiomburc/k). 



Kggs. It lavs two white eggs (Schomhurgk). 



Range in British Guiana. Upper Takutn ]\rountains, Abary 

 River (McConnell collection) ; Savannas (ScJtomhurgk) ; Cuyuni 

 River (Broicn) ; Hoorie River (Beehe) ; Tiger Island {Quelch). 



K.dralimital Range. Cayenne (P. L. S. Miiller), Brazil, Bolivia, 

 Paraguay, Argentina. 



Habits. Schomhurgk states (Reis. Guian. iii. p. 721) that he 

 only observed this bird on the Savannas, where it lives in pairs or 

 small flocks in the oasis or the wooded banks of the rivers. It 

 often flies over the open Savannas in search of the ripe psidium 

 fruit {cfr. vol. ii. p. 183). It is supposed by the Indians that it is 

 a reliable barometer or weather pro{)het, as it aUvnys utters its 

 whittling call just before the rain. It is a shy bird and difticult 

 to approach, but it becomes very tame in captivity. It has been 

 known to eat flesh and fish in confinement, init has never, as Gould 

 says in his Monograph, been known to catch lish, snuill birds, or 

 reptiles ill free life. Its favourite food is capiscum fruits. Itnests 

 in holes in trees and lays two white eggs. Young birds soon altaiii. 



