CHAPTER IX 



THE PICARIAN BIRDS concluded 



TROGONS TO OIL BIRDS 

 Families TROGONID^: to STEATORNITHID^ 



THE trogons, remarkable for their brilliant coloration and soft plumage, con- 

 stitute not only a distinct family ( Trogonida) , but are likewise regarded as repre- 

 senting a special suborder (Heterodactyli} , mainly distinguished from the Pica- 

 rian families described in the preceding chapters by the structure of the tendons 

 of the foot. In these birds the second toe is turned backward, and the third and 

 fourth toes are moved by the splitting of one tendon, while a second tendon is like- 

 wise divided into two branches to supply the first and second toes. They are 

 further characterized by having the palate of the slit (schizognathous) type; and 

 the feather tract on the back is continuous in pi-ace of being forked. Then, again, 

 we may notice that the hinder border of the breastbone has four notches; the intes- 

 tine is provided with a pair of blind appendages (c<zca}\ the oil gland is naked; and 

 the after shafts of the feathers of the body are remarkable for their length. Behind 

 the head is a patch of loose skin, and the whole skin is of such a fragile and 

 delicate nature, while the feathers are so loosely attached, that the preservation of 

 these birds tries to the utmost the skill of the taxidermist. As regards their geo- 

 graphical distribution, trogons are found in the Oriental region, Africa south of the 

 Sahara, and Central and South America; one species alone {Trogon ambiguus} 

 being stated to range as far north as Texas and Arizona. Very numerous in Cen- 

 tral and South America, in Africa, though widely distributed, they are but poorly 

 represented in species, but become more abundant in the Oriental region, although 

 not ranging eastward of the islands of Java and Borneo. Fossil trogons have been 

 discovered in Tertiary deposits in Southern France, belonging to the upper part of 

 the Oligocene period. Of the eight genera into which the family is divided, five oc- 

 cur in Central and South America (among these being the typical Trogon); and it is 

 noteworthy that the latter and one other genus are exclusively island forms, the one 

 being confined to San Domingo and the other to Cuba. The three African trogons 

 are comprised in a single genus (Hapaloderma)\ but there are two Oriental genera, 

 one of which (Hapalarpactes} is peculiar to Java and Sumatra. 



Of these magnificently-plumaged American representatives of the 

 Long-Tailed ( ., - ... 



_ family there are four species, among which we may especially notice 



the quezal (Pharomacrus mocinno) of Guatemala. Every naturalist 

 who has had the good fortune to see this bird in its wild state describes it as ex- 

 (1778) 



