2R0G0NS. 



season the male has a very melancholy note, which is never uttered 

 at any other time than when the female is sitting. They begin 

 to pair about April, when they take possession of the hole of a 

 rotten tree, or the excavations made by ants; and here the female 

 lays three or four white eggs in the decayed wood and dust ; or, 

 if there be no dust, they bruise the wood into powder by means of 

 their strong beak. The young, when first hatched, are quite des- 

 titute of feathers, and the old birds feed them with small worms, 

 caterpillars, and insects. 



The type of the sub-family — 



The Peacock Trogon {Trooon pavoninus), is a native of the Amazonian 

 forest, and well deserves its name, as it is not only splendid in the colours of 

 its plumage but elegant in form. On account of the looseness of its feathers 

 it is not able to chase insects in the air with as much adroitness as is exhibited 

 by some other trogons having firmer plumage; hence it feeds chiefly upon 

 berries, fruits, and the insects it can pick oft" the branches without being obliged 

 to pursue them on the wing. While engaged in search after food it is an active 

 bird, running about the boughs with great agility, and clinging with its power- 

 ful feet in every attitude, seeming to care little whether it be sitting on a branch 

 after the custom of most birds, or hanging with its head downwards like the 

 parrots. Although brilliant in its bedizenmeiit, it is not so easily seen as might 

 Idc supposed, for its colour harmonizes well with the foliage and bark of the 

 trees among which it dwells, and even the rich carmine of its under surface is 

 not very conspicuous in that land of flowers. Its head is decorated with a 

 curiously-shaped tuft of slight and elastic feathers that spring from the fore- 

 head, and by their peculiar curve overshadow the nostrils and a considerable 

 portion of the beak. This crest, together with the head, the throat, the back, 

 wing-coverts, and upper tail-coverts, is of the richest imaginable green shot 

 with gold, and glowing with a changeable sheen as the breeze plays with the 

 delicate libres of the plumage. The quill-feathers of the wing are black, as 

 are the central feathers of the tail. The upper tail-coverts are very long, flowing 

 gracefully over the stiffer feathers by which they are supported, and contrasting- 

 beautifully with their glossy black. The breast and remainder of the under 

 surface of the body are of a rich carmine. 



The gorgeously-bedizened Caluri are inhabitants of the hottest parts of 

 South America, where they reside in humid and thick forests, or on the margins 

 of the great rivers, or near torrents : in such situations they may be seen on the 

 highest branches of the loftiest trees, searching for the fruits and berries upon 

 which they principally live. Some seem to prefer the fruit of certain palm trees. 



A remarkable species {Priotcliis tcinmtrus) appears to be jieculiar to the 

 island of Cuba, where it is said to procure the grubs and insects upon which 

 it lives, by searching for them in the bark of trees. 



The members of another group (yApalodcrma) are only met with in South 

 Africa, where they reside in the dense forests, and live upon insects, upon which 

 they dart from a branch, and immediately return to the same perch. Their 

 eggs, to the number of four or five, are deposited in a hole in a tree. 



The Malabar Trogon {Harpactcs) is found in the forests of Malabar, 

 reaching up the ghats and hill ranges to an altitude of at least 3,000 feet. It 

 keeps generally to the thickest parts of the forest, usually solitary, sometimes 



