the publication of the present Work. To Richard Owen, Esq., Assistant Curator of the Museum
of the Royal College of Surgeons, I am indebted for the elaborate “ Observations on the
Anatomy of the Toucan” given at the close of the Work, being the result of investigations
instituted b y himself expressly for this Monograph. From E. T. Bennett, Esq., Secretary of
the Zoological Society, N. A. Vigors, Esq., M.P., and W. Swainson, Esq., I have received
much valuable information.
To Lord Stanley, whose rich collection has been at all times most liberally opened to
facilitate my inquiries, I am indebted for the use of the originals of three of the figures here
delineated. To Professor Lichtenstein I have to express my sincere obligations for permission
to avail myself of the treasures contained in the Royal Museum of Berlin, which has been so
much enriched by his own personal exertions, and which afforded me two species o f this family
with which I was previously unacquainted. The fine collection in the National Museum of
Paris was made available to me by M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire and his talented son M. Isidore
St. Hilaire, from both of which scientific gentlemen I received much politeness and attention.
I have not yet had an opportunity of inspecting the Leyden collection, for which purpose I
expressly visited that city, the stores which are there being, it is to be regretted, so secured as
not to be accessible; but M. Temminck informed me that they contained no species of this
family unknown to the British and continental museums.
O f the birds illustrated in the present Monograph, so few species had been discovered in
the days of Linnaeus, that that great naturalist was induced to include them all in one genus,
under the name of Ramphastos; but subsequent research in this branch of ornithological
science having produced many additional examples, M. Illiger has with the greatest propriety
arranged them under two distinct and well marked genera, applying the established term
Ramphastos to the true Toucans, characterized by their large bills and square tails, and
throwing th e ' Ara9aris, having graduated tails and less disproportionate bills, into a new
genus, which he has denominated Pteroglossus, thus forming from the Swedish naturalists
limited genus an extensive family, the members of which are strictly allied to each other in
general form and habits, constitute a group at once natural and well defined, and are no less
remarkable for the peculiarities of their habits and manners than for their beauty of plumage,
and in many species, though the enormous size of their bills may seem to contradict such an
assertion, for the elegance of their form and movements.
In geographical distribution these birds are strictly confined to the tropical portions of
America. According to the best information, they are a retiring and shy race, are mostly
observed in small flocks or companies, and inhabit the dense woods and forests of that luxuriant
country.
In their choice of food they are perfectly omnivorous; and although their elastic bill and
delicately feathered tongue ’ would lead us to conclude that fruits constituted the greatest
proportion of their diet, we have abundant testimony that they as readily devour flesh, fish,
eggs, and small birds, to which, in all probability, are added the smaller kinds of reptiles,
caterpillars, and the larvae of insects in general.