132 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



upper tail-coverts ; middle pair of tail-feathers bright 

 bronze or copper-bronze, changing to a greenish hue 

 in some lights (the color sometimes more greenish 

 basally), broadly and abruptly tipped with black or 

 bluish-black, the next pair of feathers similarly colored 

 on outer web, but inner web darker and more purplish- 

 bronze passing into blackish basally, the terminal black 

 area broader and less sharply defined ; remaining tail- 

 feathers very broadly tipped with white (this white 

 terminal area margined basally by a narrow and usu- 

 ally interrupted bar of black) ; wing-coverts, deli- 

 cately marked with fine wavy lines of black and white ; 

 primaries, slate-black, the outer webs mostly pale gray 

 or grayish-white ; lores, cheeks, ear region, chin, and 

 throat, uniform black or slate-black; chest, bright 

 metallic bronze-green, bronze, or copper-bronze, suc- 

 ceeded by a crescentic band of pure white; the remain- 

 ing under parts, pure geranium-red; thighs, slate-black 

 or blackish-slate, the longer feathers broadly tipped with 

 pink or pinkish-white ; bill, yellow ; naked eyelids, red 

 or orange ; iris, dark brown ; feet, brownish. Adult 

 Female: Forehead, and at least forward portion of 

 crown, slate color or brownish-slate, passing into plain 

 brown on back of head, hindneck, back, and shoulders; 

 the rump and upper tail-coverts similar but (especially 

 the latter) paler; wing-coverts, similar in color to 

 rump and upper tail-coverts; middle pair of tail- 



feathers, vandyke-brown to chocolate-brown, broadly 

 and abruptly tipped with black; next pair, blackish- 

 brown or brownish-black, the outer web edged (except 

 terminally) with lighter brown; remaining feathers, 

 extensively tipped with white; lores and under eye 

 region, dark-slaty or blackish ; ear region crossed 

 obliquely by a broad bar of pale brownish-buff or 

 brownish-white and tipped by an oblique bar of black; 

 a broad brownish-white eye-ring, interrupted on upper 

 and lower eyelids ; cheeks, chin, and throat, brownish- 

 slate to grayish-brown, passing into brown (like color 

 of back) on chest; and crossed immediately behind 

 brown jugular area by a crescentic band of brownish- 

 white or pale brownish-buft' ; lower abdomen, flanks, 

 anal region, and under tail-coverts, light geranium- 

 red ; thighs, slate color, the longer feathers broadly 

 tipped with whitish; bill, yellow (duller than in adult 

 male) ; iris and feet as in adult male. Young: Head, 

 neck, and breast, dull brownish-gray or grayish-brown; 

 an eye-ring and an oblique bar across ear region of 

 white; tail similar to adult female; remainder of upper 

 parts, brown; under parts in general, grayish-white; 

 wing-coverts with huffy spots margined with black. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : A hole in a hank, about 

 18 inches deep. Eggs: 3, dull white. 



Distribution. — From southern Arizona and extreme 

 southern Texas south over greater part of Mexico. 



The Coppery-tailed Trogon utters its call in 

 the manner of the Peacock, sitting bolt upright 

 on a limb, its long tail hanging straight down, 

 and its bill pointed at the zenith. This call is a 

 series of soft and rather musical notes not un- 



like those of a contented hen. Those who ex- 

 amine mounted specimens should remember that 

 the geranium-red color of the breast plumage is 

 likely to fade considerably after the skin is re- 

 moved from the bird's body. 



KINGFISHERS 



Order Coccyges; suborder Ale y ones; family Alccdiuidce 



|HE Kingfisher family is nearly cosmopolitan and is very numerotisly repre- 

 sented in the eastern hemisphere, especially in the Malay Archipelago and 

 thence to New Guinea, where a great variety of types are found, many of 

 them among the most beautiful of birds. There are about 200 species in 

 all. The group is poorly represented in America, where occur only two genera 

 with about 11 species and subspecies. Only one genus is found north of 

 the Rio Grande. 



The American Kingfishers are a well-marked group of birds. Their 

 heads are large, completely feathered, and more or less crested, though 

 sometimes only the feathers at the back of the head and on the nape are 

 slightly elongated. Their bills are long, strong, straight, and much deeper 

 than wide at the base. Their wings are moderate to rather short with the longest primaries 

 always longer than the longest secondaries; the tip of the wing is rather pointed. Tail 

 feathers number twelve, and the tail is from one-half to two-thirds as long as the wing and 

 is slightly rounded. The feet are relatively very small ; the first toe is much shorter than 

 the inner toe and connected with the second so as to form with it and the others a broad 

 flattened sole, the surface of which is conspicuously granulated. 



In coloration none of the American Kingfishers have the bright hues of the spectrum 

 though some have the upper parts of a rather dull metallic bronze-green. In all of the 

 American forms the sexes are more or less different in coloration. 



