FAMILY TROGONIDAE 



391 



of the birds at such nest holes, or working on them, on numerous 

 occasions. Skutch (Ibis, 1966, pp. 8, 10) has found their nests also 

 excavated in rotting tree trunks. The tail of females taken from the 

 middle of February to the middle of April often is badly worn, 

 evidently from abrasion in the nesting cavity. Gross (Nature Mag., 

 1930, pp. 249-250) on Barro Colorado Island, June 28, 1927, found 

 2 eggs in a nest tunnel dug in a termitarium. These he described as 

 light bluish white, with weights of 12.5 and 12.2 grams, and measure- 



Figure 47. — Massena trogon, aurora, Trogon massena hoffmanni. 



ments of 35.2x27.1 and 33.5x27.0 mm. Incubation was shared by 

 male and female. The tunnel was wet and slimy from the daily 

 rains. The young on hatching, completely naked "without a vestige 

 of down," were fed on winged insects. 



The measurements of 4 eggs listed as those of nominate massena 

 by Schonwetter (Handb. Ool., pt. 11, 1966, p. 686) from "S. Mexico 

 to Nicaragua" appear to be wrongly identified, as they agree with 

 those of smaller species of trogon. 



The Massena trogon comes regularly with others of the family 

 to feed on drupes of forest trees, and also eats large insects. The 



