442 CORACIIFORMES chap. 



feathers are easily detached from the delicate skin. The male 

 of Pharomacrus mocinno has a fine rounded crest, less developed 

 in the female and in its other congeners. Eiqjtilotis, Tmetotrogon, 

 and Prionotelus have the ear-coverts filamentous and hair-like. 

 Pharomacrus pavoninus has a red bill,as \ia.B Prionotelus in part; the 

 usual colour in the former genus, and in Trogon and its allies, being 

 yellow for the cock and more horn-coloured or black for the hen, but 

 in Harpactes violet or bluish, with a duller tip in the female. The 

 orbits are partially or entirely bare in HaiKtloderma, Harpactes, and 

 Hapalarpactes, the skin being, it would seem, yellow, violet, or 

 blue. The Family ranges through the tropical portions of the 

 Indian, Ethiopian, and Neotropical Eegions, Harpactes and Hapal- 

 arpactes being found in the first, Hapaloderma in the second, and 

 the other five genera in the third. Trogon ambiguus reaches north- 

 wards to Arizona and Texas. The number of species is nearly 

 fifty, of which the largest {Pharomacrus mocinno) measures some 

 fourteen inches, the smallest {Harpactes cluvauceli) about nine. 



Trogons are usually seen singly or in pairs, though some- 

 times in small flocks ; they are rarely shy, and often so unsus- 

 picious that they may be killed with a stick. They customarily 

 sit almost motionless in the mid-day heat, with the head drawn in 

 upon the shoulders and the body vertical, every now and then open- 

 ing and shutting the tail. Their haunts are in the thickest forests, 

 which they seldom leave for more open or sunny places ; here 

 they creep about the trees or sit some half-way up on leafless 

 branches, darting off to catch a passing insect or to secure a tempt- 

 ing fruit, since nearly all their food is taken on the wing. The 

 noiseless flight is rapid, but short and jerky, w^ith occasional undu- 

 lations. The Quezal, at least, clings to trees like a Woodpecker, 

 but the feet are ill adapted to climbing, and perfectly unfit for 

 walking. The voice of this species consists of two plaintive 

 sibilant notes, gradually swelling into a loud cry, and varied by 

 discordant sounds ; many forms, however, utter a reiterated " cou- 

 cou," and will also cluck, whistle, or chatter, though ordinarily 

 silent, except when breeding. The food of the New World species 

 is stated to consist principally of fruit, but lizards, grasshoppers, 

 lepidoptera, caterpillars, ants, beetles, small crabs, and terrestrial 

 molluscs are eaten ; while the Old World forms seem to prefer 

 an insect-diet. No nest is made, but a hole is usually bored or 

 enlarged in the top or side of a rotten stump or branch, in which 



