ANDIGENA NIGRIROSTRIS.
Black-billed Hill Toucan.
S p e c i f i c C h a r a c t e r .
An d . rostro n ig ro ; g u la a lb a ; corpore inferiore pallidb cyaneo.
Crown o f th e head an d b ack of th e neck glossy b la ck ; back, wing-coverts and margins o f the
primaries sienna-brown ; secondaries bluish b r o w n ; ta il very d a rk bluish g reen, th e four
cen tra l feathers la rg ely , an d th e n e x t on each side slightly tipped with ch e s tn u t; u p p er
tail-coverts su lp h u r-y e llow ; th ro a t white, th e w h ite tinged with blue , proceeding across the
sides o f th e neck, an d n e a rly meeting a t th e b a c k ; breast and abdomen pale chalky blue ;
th ig h s rich c h e s tn u t; u n d e r tail-coverts blood-red ; feet greenish b lu e , with a lilac tinge on
th e ir u n d e r surface.
T o tal len g th , 19 in c h e s ; bill, 4 t ; wing, 6 f ; tail, 7%\ tarsi, 1£.
Pteroglossus nigrirostris, W a terh . in P ro c . of Zool. Soc., P a r t V II. p. 111.— Gray and Mitch.
Gen. o f Birds, vol. ii. p. 404, Pteroglossus, sp. 18.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av.,
p . 94, Pteroglossus, sp. 10..
melanorhynchus, S tu rm ’s Ed it, o f G o u ld s Mon. o f Ramph., pi.
T h is species was first characterised by Mr. Waterhouse (from a specimen belonging to the late Earl of Derby)
in 1839 four years subsequent to the completion of the first edition of this work, and during my absence in
Australia : two years later Messrs. Sturm figured it in their edition of my Monograph under the name of
P. melanorhynchus, both those gentlemen and Mr. Waterhouse having selected the black colouring of its
bill in which it differs from every known member of its family, for their specific appellation.
It is a typical example of that division of the family to which I have applied the generic term And,gem;
it is moreover, one of the most delicately coloured, and one of the most interesting species of the genus;
from all of which, as above-mentioned, it differs in the black colouring of its bill, which is beautifully contrasted
with the snowy whiteness of its th ro a t; while the blue of its under surface is even more delicate
than in A . hypoglaucus. It is a large and powerful bird, and the strength of its mandibles indicates that it
can use them with greater force than any of its congeners. | | H
Mr. Waterhouse has remarked that the nostrils do not extend so far forwards, that they are hidden by
the feathers of the head, and that there is no longitudinal groove in front of them, as in other species of
^Farther" than its occurring in most of the recent collections sent from Santa Fd de Bogota nothing is
known respecting it ; not even the localities it frequents in the great Andean Eange_ But little difference
is observable in the colouring of the birds sent to Europe; on the other hand, they differ considerably m site,
the smaller birds being probably females.