312 , THE FF^TmCKEI") TKIliES. 



Mr. Gould states that lie is enabled in a great measure to confirm tlii-^ aecoimt, from the 

 information whii'h ho obtained respecting this gi-oup whilst he was engaged upon his 

 monograph. ])ut ho adds a few facts in .somc^ degree contradict ory. His friend, ^Sfr. 

 John Nattercr, who had many opj^ortunitcs of observing these birds in a state of nature, 

 informed him that ho had seen them, though ^'cry rarely, congregating together, and 

 more than one species in I'ompany ; a circumstance -which 5Ir. Nattercr accounts for on 

 the principle that instinct leads them, by some migratory movement, to abandon one 

 district at a certain season of the year, in search of another where food is more abundant. 

 These migrations, however, ~Slr. Gould observes, cannot be extensive, inasmuch as their 

 wings are not adapted for a lengthened flight ; besides which, every new district of any 

 great extent presents us, he remarks, with its peculiar species ; for example, none of the 

 species inhabiting Jlcxico have been found in the Brazils, and rice rcim. 



With regard to the geographical distribution of the Trogons, IMr. Gould says that 

 thoj^ appear, on general survc}-, to be divided between America, including its islands, 

 and the islands of the Indian Archipelago ; two or three species only have yet been 

 discovered on the continent of India, and those principally inhabiting the countries 

 bordering the Indian seas. The great nurseries for these birds in the ( )ld AVorld are, he 

 observes, the islands of Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, &c. ; while over the whole 

 continent of Africa only a single species has yet been discovered. " It is in South 

 America, however," says ^Ir. Goidd, " that we find the greatest number of species, and 

 those of the most exquisite plumage ; nor is this all, for it will be further observed that, 

 in accordance with the great geographical distribution just pointed out, there exist 

 certain characters common to the species inhabiting each region, which, although not 

 voTy apparent to the iinpractised eye, constitute the basis of generic subdivisions, and, 

 doubtless, have an influence upon their habits and manners. Between the American 

 species and those inhabiting India and Africa, we not only find this broad line of 

 distinction, but discover moreover that the birds of each country arc themselves naturally 

 resolvable into certain minor groups, each possessing its peculiar characters, and each as 

 ditferent in habits as in form." 



Mr. Govdd further remarks that the beautiful species of the grou}) to which the 

 subgeneric title of Ca/tirun has been ajiplied, distinguished by a redundancy of flowing 

 plimiage, are not, as may bo expected, so well fitted for flight, or for taking their i)roy 

 on the wing, as are the most closely plumed sjiecies, to which the generic name Trof/oii is 

 now restricted ; accordinglj', ilr. Natterer informed IMr. Gould that the gorgeous birds 

 of the former group tenant the topniost branches of the loftiest forest-trees, clinging 

 beneath them like parrots, and feeding more exclusively on fruits and berries ; while, on 

 the other hand, ]Mr. Gould notices Mr. AY. S. Mac Ijcary's statement, that the singular 

 Trogon inhabiting ('uba (the oidy example of the subgenus Tcmiuinta), which approxi- 

 mates to the woodpeckers in the more lengthened form of the bill, in the rigid character 

 of the outer tail feathers, and in the spotting of the wings, approaches these birds 

 also in its ha1)its, giving a preference to the holes of trees rather than to the branches, 

 from the bark of which it procures the larvic and various insects which coustituto its 

 food. 



The habits of the Old World species arc much less known than those of the American 

 Trogons ; but from the more robust form of their bill and their wide gape, .Mr. Gould is 

 inclined to suspect that they feed oven still more exclusively on insects than on fruits ; 

 independently, however, of 1h(> greater sti'eiigth of the bill, the non-sei'ratiDU of iho 

 edges of the mandildcs, and llic half-dmuded face, Ihey may, Mr. Gould rcmaiks, at idl 

 times be distinguished by the rirli liniwn culduring of the backs of the malrs, and by the 

 entire absence of bars across the o\iter tail-feathers. With respect t i tlie liruwn colourin"' 

 fif the plumage, there are, he adds, it is true, one or two exceptions to the rule, but none 



