THE TROGONS 1779 



tremely beautiful; and even when preserved, its plumage differs from that of its con- 

 geners in its retention of the original coloration, a skin which has been exposed to 

 the light in the British Museum for some half a century still being almost as bril- 

 liant as when first mounted. In the other species, on the contrary, the bright yellow 

 or crimson of the breast fades with sad rapidity. The range of the quezal extends 

 from Guatemala to Panama, but as considerable numbers of the skins of these birds 

 are sent yearly to Europe as plumes for bonnets, the species has become very scarce. 

 Ornamented with a large rounded crest on the head, the male bird has the ground 

 color of the plumage a brilliant metallic green, while the throat and chest are like- 

 wise metallic green, as are also the wings and upper tail coverts; the two central 

 plumes of the latter being enormously developed, and fully four times as long as the 

 tail, while the rest of the under parts, from the chest downward, are deep blood red. 

 The median wing coverts are metallic green, and so produced as to form elegant 

 drooping plumes; while the outer tail feathers are white with black bases. The 

 female is much less brightly colored than her mate, having a brownish breast, and 

 the bill black instead of yellow. The head is golden green , and the outer tail feath- 

 ers are white barred with black. Mr. Salvin gives an interesting account of his 

 hunting the quezal in Guatemala. After a difficult march through the forest, the 

 way barred by swollen torrents and fallen trees, he at last managed to get within 

 sight of one of the birds, which had been attracted by his guide imitating its notes. 

 This imitation is not difficult, since the whistle is described as " a low double note, 

 whe-oo, whe-oo, uttered softly at first, and then gradually swelling into a loud but not 

 unmelodious cry; this succeeded by a long note which begins low, and, after swell- 

 ing, dies away as it began." The other cries of the bird are harsh, discordant, and 

 not so easily imitated. When detected, the bird was observed sitting almost 

 motionless on its perch, merely moving its head slowly from side to side, with the 

 tail somewhat raised and occasionally jerked open, and again as rapidly closed, thus 

 causing a vibration of its long upper coverts. In spite of the length of the stream- 

 ing tail feathers, which appear to form no bar to its progress, the flight of this 

 trogon is straight and rapid. Of the golden-headed trogon (/*. auriceps), of Peru, 

 Mr. Stolzmann writes that it is exclusively a bird of the forests, frequenting the 

 lower branches of the highest trees at a considerable distance from the ground. It 

 is generally seen in pairs, but sometimes two or three pairs may be met with 

 together. " I was struck," he writes, " with the vertical position which it assumes 

 on the large horizontal boughs, and I observed by the aid of my field glasses that, 

 instead of perching on the upper surface of the branch it remains attached to the 

 side of the latter just as woodpeckers glue themselves to the trunks and vertical 

 branches of trees. Its flight is rapid but weak. It feeds on fruits, especially on 

 nectandras; and in the stomach of one I found a nectandra fruit so large as to fill 

 the whole stomach. I suppose, therefore, that the trogon, like the guacharo, rejects 

 the nut after having digested the flesh, because otherwise some time must elapse 

 before it could swallow another fruit. The species has two cries, both well known 

 to me: one like a mocking laugh is seldom heard; the other is a plaintive ha-hau, 

 with the second syllable much prolonged. It has a ventriloquial quality and often 



