Most of the species, if not all, incubate in the holes of trees, laying two eggs at a time, of
a delicate white.
The true Toucans, unlike many of the Ara§aris, offer no sexual difference in the colour
of the plumage; but the females are rather less than the males in all their proportions.
The young of both genera assume at a very early age the adult colouring: their large
bills, however, as might naturally be expected, are not fully developed for a considerable
period.
Their flight is straight, and appears not to be effected without considerable exertion; while,
on the contrary, among the trees, &c., they are as quick and graceful as can well be imagined,
leaping from branch to branch with the most elegant agility.
In a state of repose, they turn their heads over their shoulders, the bill being completely
hidden among the plumage of the upper parts and greater wing-eoverts, and the tail raised
vertically over the back, in which state the bird resembles a ball of feathers.
The habits of these birds in confinement, as observed on two of the species, have been
admirably delineated in two papers published a few years since in the “ Zoological Journal,”;
by Mr. Broderip and Mr. Vigors. The details given by the latter gentleman are particularly
valuable: they were derived from the observation of an individual of the Ariel Toucan, kept
by him for several years, and are almost universally known on account of the numerous reprints
of them which have been induced by the graceful manner in which they are recorded, no less
than by the interest of the facts themselves.
With these few preliminary observations I dismiss the general subject, and proceed to offer
some remarks on the distribution of the species which have fallen under my notice..
I. The Toucans are distinguished among the Ramphastidce by the very disproportionate
size of their bills, and by the comparative shortness and square termination of the tail. The
general colour of their feathering is black; but the throat and the upper and under tail-coverts
assume, in all the species yet known, a colouring different from that of the ground. The colour
of the under tail-coverts appears to be invariably crimson; that of the upper tail-coverts is
either crimson, white, or yellow, according to the several species. The throat is either white or
yellow; and is terminated behind by a crimson band, which is in some species very narrow,
while in others it is so broad as to extend over the whole of the chest. The legs are of a slaty
b lu e ; and the naked space surrounding the eyes is usually of the same colour with the legs;
in three species only is it crimson. The bill varies much in colour, and is subject to variation
in this respect, even in the same species, according to the age of the individual: the general
distribution of the colouring of the bill seems, however, to be constant. In its proportion to
the size of the bird, the bill also varies with the age and sex of the individual, but seems to be
constant in each species in the adult state. I t also differs, according to the species, in the
greater or less convexity of its sides; in the sharpness or roundness of its upper edge; and in
the smoothness or jaggedness of its cutting edges.
A. The first section of the Toucans comprehends those in which the upper tail-coverts are
yellow. In the whole of these the throat is white, with a faint tinge only of yellow; and the
crimson band by which it is separated behind from the black of the under surface is of small
breadth. All of them have the upper edge of the bill yellow, and a broad band of the same
colour surrounding its base, this band being separated by a narrow fine of black from the
adjoining parts of the head and face. This section comprehends three species:
1. Ramph. culminatus; with the mandibles compressed laterally and wholly black, except
the culminal and basal bands, which are pale straw yellow.
2. Ramph. Citvieri; with the bill more attenuated than in culminatus; the mandibles
convex and blackish brown, except the greenish yellow culmen and basal belt of
the same colour, which is bounded before by a broad, and behind by a narrow,
band of black.
3. Ramph. erytlirorhynchus; with the entire bill red, except the yellow culmen and basal
band, and the black borders of the basal band and cutting margins.
B. In the second section of the Toucans b ut one species is comprehended. I t is characterized
either b y the total absence of the scarlet pectoral band, or by having it so faint as to be scarcely
perceptible. The upper tail-coverts are white, exceed the ordinary proportions, and equal in
length about one half of that of the tail-feathers. The throat is white; the space surrounding
the eyes is red, and the eyelids blue. Such are the characters of
4. Ramph. Toco; with the bill rich orange, banded at its base and broadly blotched at its
tip with black.
C. The third section of the Toucans comprehends two species, distinguished by the upper