INTRODUCTION. 
23 
The fourth section comprises the species constituting my genus 
SELENIDERA, 
WITH THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS 
Rostrum brevius et amplius quam in genere Pteroglosso ; cauda ratione ad magnitudinem corporis habita brevior; 
sexus inter se colore dissimilis ; mare caput pectusque nigra, fceminfi. has partes castaneas habente ; plumes 
auricular es flava:; lunula ad cervicem posticam flay a. 
Bill shorter and thicker than in the genus Pteroglossus ; tail shorter in proportion to the size of the body; sexes 
differing in colour ; the male haying the head and breast black, the same parts in the female being chestnut; 
ear-coverts and a crescent at the back of the neck yellow. 
\ 
This interesting group of Toucanets again have a more restricted range than either the typical 
Ramphasti or Pteroglossi. No one of them has yet been found so far to the northward as the Isthmus of 
Panama; and few of them have been observed beyond the latitude of the Amazon in this direction. On 
the banks of that river, however, and those of the Rio Negro and Rio Madeira, they are very numerously 
dispersed; and one species, the Selenidera maculirostris, is found as far south as Rio de Janeiro, and 
I believe in Corrientes and Paraguay ; still the forests bordering the Upper Amazon and its tributaries 
are undoubtedly the cradle of the race. They constitute a well-marked section of the family, and are 
distinguished by their small size, by their short bills, by the crescentic mark of yellow at the base of the 
neck, and by the brilliant colours which adorn their ears and flanks. The females have all these character¬ 
istic marks, but differ conspicuously in the colouring of the anterior half of their bodies, which is generally 
chestnut-brown instead of black. 
The species are— 
.31. Selenidera maculirostris 
3*2. 
- Gouldi 
33. 
- Langsdorfli . 
34. 
- Nattereri 
35. 
- Reinwardti 
36. 
- piperivora 
PI. XXXI. 
PI. XXXII. 
PI. XXXIII. 
PI. XXXIV. 
PI. XXXV. 
PI. XXXVI. 
