170 THE WORLD'S BIRDS. 



Nest. — A hole in a tree or bank. 



Eggs. — White or tinted ; two to four in number. 



Incubation. — About three weeks. 



Food. — Insects and fruit ; chiefly or entirely the former 

 in Old World species. Food is usually taken on 

 the wing, the bird darting out to catch an insect 

 or pluck a fruit, and then returning to its perch. 



Gait. — They seem not to hop or walk about, but to 

 either fly or remain perched. 



Flight. — Whirring when flying a short distance, un- 

 dulating when going far. 



Note. — Rather discordant; clucking, whistling, or 

 chattering. 



Disposition and Habits. — They are solitary, unsocial 

 and quiet, frequenting forests. 



Economic Qualities. — As insect destroyers they are 

 serviceable, and the fruit they take is only wild 

 berries ; they are also very ornamental. 



Captivity. — ^The Indian Red-headed Trogon {Harpactes 

 erythrocephalus) has been kept in captivity at the 

 Calcutta Zoological Garden, and an American 

 species in the New York one ; the ancient Aztecs 

 also used to keep the Quezal {Pharomacms mocinno) 

 for the sake of its plumage. 



Distribution and Important Species. — The family, 

 which includes about fifty species, is founds 

 in warm regions only, all round the world, but 

 not in Australia ; and only two species are African. 

 The only species generally known — as they are 

 never abundant or familiar birds — is the cele- 

 brated Quezal of Central America, above-men- 

 tioned, figured on the Guatemala stamps. It is as 

 large as a pigeon, intense golden-green, with red 

 abdomen, and with the male's upper tail-coverts 

 a yard long. 



