Toucan

Toucan, any bird of the Picarian family Rhamphastidae, from tropical America. They live in the depths of the forests, among the branches of trees, and their diet is almost exclusively fruit, though in captivity they are not fastidious. The bill is long and wide, curved above, and compressed from side to side, and notched at the edges; the tongue is long and feathered. There are five genera; Rhamphastos, containing the true Toucans, with twelve species, ranging from Mexico to the south of Brazil. The general hue of the plumage is black, with white or scarlet on the neck. The bill is also brightly coloured, and Waterton was probably the first to devise a plan by which this colouring might be preserved after death. The genus Andiqena, from the South American Andes, contains the Hill Toucans, soberly clad in grey; the species of Aulacorhamphus, ranging from Mexico to Peru and Bolivia, have green plumage; and the Toucanets (Selenidera), from Veragua to Brazil, east of the Andes, resemble the species of Pteroglossus, [ARACARI.]