r a m p h a s t o s a m b i g u u s , Swains.
Doubtful Toucan.
S p e c i f ic C h a r a c t e r .
R am p h . niger ; ju g u lo J la vo ; mandibulw superioris p a r te superioreflava, transversb maculata,
strig a viridi oblique d iv isa ; mandibuld inferiore nigra.:'— Swainson.
General plumage blaek, with a tinge of rufous at the baek of the ueek and a greenish gloss on
the wings, body and ta il; throat rich yellow, bounded below by a narrow line of yellowish
white to which succeeds a broader one of blood-red , upper tail-coverts creamy white ;
under tail-coverts blood-red f upper mandible obliquely divided for about three-fourths
of its length from the base by a strongly defined streak of black, the space below which
is chocolate-black, and that above yellow, traversed by a broad streak of green; under
mandible chocolate-black a t the base, passing into black towards the t,p ; orbits b lu e .;
legs and feet blue above, lilac beneath.
• Total length, 20 inches; bill, wing, 81; tail, S i ; tarsi, li .
Ramphastos ambiguus, SwiSns. Zool. 111. 1st Ser., vol. m. pi. 168. I
Swainsonii, Gould, Mon. of Ramph., pi. 8, lower fig u r e .-Ib . Sturms Ed,t„
nl. , lower figure.
i T nnv have been perplexed by the Mexican K e e l-b ille d Toucans, I have been ten times
mrk W v e l e ^ o r r i l T b r f i e l T ^ t h e * J P « - «
f M l f l M t i — I M 8B 1
n ¡ H I H which i f § , he H H H —
appears to exist in the H ■ I b lu e , which
^ m i " ' ^ d to beSthe case, so far as
the Museum at Neufchatel. Swainson, w o sta e „ I pr„bably due to age,
the bird immediately after death, dso represe s it Itdue J h e divers, y ^ ^ ^
but may be attributable tc.some o ^ ^ er fmmiag s0 conspicu„„s a feature in
t : i „ l T % ! l ,t s vq: ; apparciM and this among other reasons has led me to consider the spec.es to he
I true one g H K g H | ^ ■ ■ ggR „ si„ce my M of H Tocard
was jirinted ; aiid tha^the i^ r t io n of Swainson, name of * . - * « . among the synonyms of that spec.es
18 The'term '‘Doubtful," I may observe, alludes to the species, and not to the Toucan as a gene