RAMPHASTOS TOCO, Auct. 
Toco Toucan. 
Specific Character. 
Bcmph. rostro mtrantiaco; fascia hasali maculague ovaliutrmque ad apicem mandihilw superioris 
nigris: ater; aurihus, guld, pectore, caudwque tectricibus superioribus albis; inferioribiis 
coccineis. 
Variat torque angnstd coccined. 
Beak rich orange, with a basal band of black, and a broad oval spot of the same colour on each 
side of the tip of the upper mandible; irides red; eyelids blue; naked space around the 
eyes red; top of the head and the whole of the plumage deep black, with the exception 
of the ear-coverts, throat, chest, and upper tail-coverts, which are white, and the under 
tail-coverts, which are scarlet; tarsi dull blue. In some examples, the white of the chest is 
bordered by a narrow line of scarlet. 
Total length, 27 inches; bill, 7^; wings, 10; tail, 7 ; tarsi, 2. 
Toucan de Cayenne, appelle Toco. Buff., PI. Enl., n. 82. 
Ramphastos Toco. Auct. 
Le Toco. Levaill., Ois. de Farad., 2. p. 7-1. 2. Azar. n. 50. 
This magnificent species is one of the largest of the genus, and is remarkable for possessing a bill perhaps 
more dispx’oportionate in size than is found in any other, by which circumstance and the rich colouring of the 
mandibles it may be at once distinguished. I would here also observe, that it seems to differ slightly from 
the rest of the Toucans, in having an unusually short and square tail, covered at its base by large white 
feathers. A few years ago this was a species rarely found in cabinets of natural history ; latterly, however, it 
has been brought over more abundantly, and may now be met with in every museum of any extent. Though 
the Ramphastos Toco has the widest range of any species, being distributed throughout the whole of the wooded 
districts from the River Plate to Guiana, it is but thinly dispersed, and, according to the information afforded 
me by my friend Dr. Such, is extremely shy, and not procured without considerable difficulty, keeping to the 
tops of the highest trees, and exercising the utmost wariness and caution. 
As with the rest of the genus, fruits compose the principal part of its food, and among these, it is said to 
be extremely partial to the banana. 
The sexes offer little or no difference in colour, but the female may be always distinguished by ber smaller 
size, and the comparatively inferior dimensions of the beak. The general colours of the young are also 
similar, but the beak is of course less developed, and is a considerable time before it attains its rich colouring 
and perfect size. 
