PTEROGLOSSUS TORQUATUS, w ag i. 
Collared Ara^ari. 
Specific Character. 
Pter. mandibula superiore straminea, nigro-serrata, culmine nigro ; inferiore nigra, fascia angusta 
alba, capite aterrima ; cervice fascia lunata castanea postice cinctd. 
Head, neck and throat deep black; at the back of the neck a semilunar mark of chestnut; 
back, wings and tail olive-green ; rump and upper tail-coverts blood-red ; below the black 
of the throat a narrow band of blood-red ; across the breast a broad band of yellow stained 
with blotches of pale blood-red ; in the upper part of this yellow band a large patch of 
black; below a band of black mingled with blood-red, the latter predominating on the 
sides ; abdomen and under tail-coverts pale yellow, the latter stained with red ; thighs 
chestnut-brown ; upper mandible straw-yellow ; the culmen, tip and serratures black ; on 
the sides at the base a wash of salmon-red in some, of a deeper and bluer tint in others ; 
lower mandible black ; raised ridge at the base of the mandibles white; feet green. 
Total length, 17 inches ; bill, 4 ; wing, 6; tail, 74; tarsi, It. 
Araqari Toucan, var. A. Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 290. 
Pteroglossus torqucitus, Wagl. in Oken’s Isis, 1829, p.508.—Sturm’s Edit, of Mon. of Ramph., pi. 
- ambiguus. Less. Traite d’Orn., p. 178, Pteroglossus, sp. 14. 
- Regalis, Licbt.—Gould’s Mon. of Ramph., pi. 14.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of 
Birds, vol. ii. p. 403, Pteroglossus, sp. 3.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 94, Ptc- 
roglossus, sp. 3. 
Ramphastos torquatus, Gmel. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 354 ?—Lath. Ind. Orn., tom. i. p. 137 1 
Tucana Mexicana torquata, Briss. Orn., tom. iv. p. 421 ? 
Collared Toucan, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol.i. p. 330?—Shaw, Gen. Zook, vol. viii. p. 396 ?—Lath. 
Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 287 ? 
We find in the writings of the older authors—Gmelin, Latham, and others—a species of this family called 
Ramphastos torquatus , which may have been intended to indicate the present bird, but their descriptions 
and measurements are somewhat inapplicable; at the same time it is the only species yet discovered 
having a distinct reddish collar at the back of the neck, and there is no other bird which agrees so well 
with their obscure descriptions. It is unquestionably the torquatus of Wagler; a name, which the law of 
priority obliges me to adopt, as it was certainly given to the bird prior to that of Regalis being assigned to 
it by my much-esteemed friend Dr. Lichtenstein, who, as is well known, has devoted a long life to the 
advancement of science, and whose labours are so highly and justly valued by all who are acquainted with 
them ; and whose name I relinquish with regret. 
The native habitat of this fine species is Southern Mexico ; but it appears to extend its range across the 
country, and to inhabit the forests on the shores both of the Atlantic and of the Pacific. I have specimens 
in my possession from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and other parts of Central America ; and Messrs. 
Sturm speak of a specimen which they had received from Bogota; hut I think that the locality here given 
wants confirmation, and that some mistake must have been made in the communication to those gentlemen, 
as among the many collections I have seen from thence no specimen of this bird has occurred. They also 
mention that the irides are white, but their authority for so stating is not given. In a specimen at the 
British Museum, from which the eyes have not been removed, they are, even in a dried state, of a rich 
orange colour, and I have accordingly so represented them. 
There is scarcely a more ornamental or better defined species in the whole genus than the present; the 
only one with which it could be confounded is the Pteroglossus erythropygius , and from that species its 
nuchal collar at once distinguishes it. I must not omit to mention that great diversity occurs with respect 
to the size and form of the black spot on the chest; in some it is nearly obsolete, in others a large 
round patch, and in others it assumes a triangular shape; nor must I fail to notice that the bill is nearly 
as broad as it is deep, much flattened at the base of the culmen, and correspondingly developed at the 
sides, presenting an appearance of massiveness and strength. 
The pretty Orchid figured on the accompanying Plate is the Maxillaria leptosepala. 
The front figure represents a male of the natural size ; the hinder one is somewhat reduced. 
