RAMPHASTOS CUVIERI, Waller. 
Cuvier’s Toucan. 
Specific Character. 
Ramph, rostro brimneo-nigrescente, culmine fasciaque hasali liiteis, liac postice lined nigra 
antice fascia atrd cinctd: niger; genis, gutture, pectoreque alhis lutescenti tinctis; torcpie 
pectorali caudceque tectricihus inferioribus coccineis, superioribus aiirantiacof avis. 
Beak brownish black on the sides, with a large basal belt and ciihnenal line of greenish yellow, 
the basal belt being bounded behind by a narrow line of black, and before by a broader 
one of deep black, which is only apparent in certain lights; the top of the head and whole 
of the upper surface black, with the exception of the upper tail-coverts, which are bright 
orange yellow; cheeks, throat, and chest white, with a tinge of greenish yellow terminated 
by a band of scarlet; under surface black; under tail-coverts scarlet. 
Total length, 24 inches; bill, 74; wings, 9; tail, 6i; tarsi, 2. 
Ramphastos Cuvieri. Wagler, Syst. Avium. 
The only naturalist who has hitherto noticed this fine and rare species appears to he Wagler, who has given 
a detailed account of its specific characters in his “ Systcina Avium.” The s])ecies most nearly allied to It in 
form and colouring is the Ramphastos enjthrorhymhus, but from which it may be at once distinguished by its 
larger size, and by the black colour almost universally spread over the mandibles in place of the bright scarlet 
which is so conspicuous in that species. The upper tail-coverts are also of a more intense orange. 
In size, the Ramphastos Cuvieri is equal if not superior to the R. toco, its beak being fully as large, and 
although not keel-shaped along the upper ridge, is also similarly attenuated. 
The rarity of this bird may be best understood, when I state, that my own specimen is the only one I 
have ever seen, with the exception of another which I have some recollection of in the Museum at Berlin, the 
splendid collection at Paris having no example. The one I possess, with my other rare and new species, will 
be added to the fine collection of the Zoological Society of London. 
The natural habitat of this bird is doubtless the densely wooded districts on both sides of the Amazon ; at 
least we are led so to suspect from its form, which agrees with the R. erxjthrorhynchus and culminatus, birds 
both natives of the same locality, or nearly so. 
