FAMILY TROGONIDAE 399 



been little known in Panama. Arce, the first to secure it in the Repub- 

 lic, forwarded specimens from Bugaba. From these Salvin (Proc. 

 Zool. Soc. London, 1870, p. 202) published the first description of 

 the female since Lawrence, when he named bairdii from 2 male in- 

 dividuals, wrongly listed the female as that of Trogon clathratus. 

 Salvin and Godman (Biol. Centr.-Amer., Aves, vol. 2, 1896, 

 pp. 496-497) added Bibalaz, Chiriqui, to the range, from other early 

 specimens taken by Arce. They were in error in the further inclusion 

 of "Veraguas (Merritt)" with the statement "Long prior to the 

 description of this species by Lawrence, specimens were secured by 

 Dr. Merritt in Veraguas, and were in his collection when Salvin 

 examined it in 1874," as this refers also to clathratus. This is shown 

 by Salvin (Ibis, 1874, p. 329) in his description of his visit to Merritt, 

 and is verified by Salvin and Godman (loc. cit., pp. 504-505) in their 

 account of T. clathratus. The next report of specimens of Trogon 

 bairdii was by Bangs (Auk, 1901, p. 360) who recorded 12 taken by 

 W. W. Brown, Jr., at Divala, Chiriqui, in November and December 

 1900. Apparently, the next record is that of a male, now in the U.S. 

 National Museum, taken by Dr. F. A. Hartman at about 1,375 meters 

 elevation at Santa Clara, Chiriqui, on February 28, 1958. 



The species ranges in southwestern Costa Rica where Slud (Bull. 

 Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 128, 1964, p. 166) reports it as locally 

 common. He records it as sympatric with Trogon massena "the two 

 being found commonly together in some places, uncommonly in others. 

 Like massena it is a forest inhabitant that also enters the neighboring 

 well-shaded semi-open. It frequents all vegetation levels above shrub 

 height and even descends to eye level. Unusually among Costa Rican 

 trogons, it occurs in small groups more often than singly or in two's. 

 It differs in color of plumage and soft parts but resembles massena 

 in voice. Its call . . . starts slowly, like that of massena, then speeds 

 up and bounces along with increasing strength, and ends by slowing 

 and dropping in pitch. Another, similar cry, not unlike that of the 

 Quetzal, is a rapid, chickenlike cackle, higher in the middle portion ; 

 the bird also makes a weak cackle more like that of other trogons." 



Peters (Check-list Birds World, pt. 5, 1945, p. 152) has included 

 bairdii as a geographic race of Trogon "strigilatus." It is obvious that 

 the two are closely related but it seems more appropriate to list them 

 as distinct species, in view of their definite color differences in which 

 bairdii is red on the abdomen in both sexes, and has the tail in the 

 female more evenly barred to the end. In Tragon viridis chionurus, 

 found from the Canal Zone eastward to Darien, and through much 



