128 THE RESPLENDENT TROOON. 



* 



SEVERAL of the Trogons are distinguished from their relatives by the length and downy 

 looseness of many of the feathers, more especially the lance-shaped feathers of the shoulders, 

 and the elongated upper tail-coverts. On account of this structure of the plumage, they are 

 gathered into a separate genus under the appropriate title of Calurus, or Beautiful-tailed 

 Trogons. 



The first of these birds, the BEAUTIFUL TROGON, is a native of South America, and well 

 deserves its name, as it is not only richly gorgeous in the colors of its plumage, but is also 

 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 the firmer-feathered Trogons, and is found 

 to make its diet chiefly upon berries, fruits, and the insects which it can pick off the branches 

 without being forced to pursue them on the wing. While engaged in the search after food, it 

 is a sufficiently active bird, running about the boughs with great agility, and clinging with its 

 powerful 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 downward, like the parrots. 



Although so brilliant in coloring, it is not so easily seen as might be supposed, for its 

 color 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. 



The head is decorated with a curiously-shaped tuft of slight and elastic feathers, which 

 spring from the forehead, and by their peculiar curve overshadow the nostrils and a consid- 

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

 coverts, and upper tail-coverts, are of the richest imaginable green glazed with gold, glowing 

 with a changeable sheen as the breeze plays with the delicate fibres of the plumage. The 

 quill -feathers of the wing are black, as are the six central feathers of the tail. The upper tail- 

 coverts are very long, exceeding the tail by two inches, flowing gracefully over the stiffer 

 feathers by which they are supported, and contrasting beautifully with their glossy black. 

 The abdomen and remainder of the under surface is rich carmine. The total length of an 

 adult bird is about fourteen inches. 



BEFORE entering into any detailed description of the RESPLENDENT TROGON, we must 

 explain that in order to bring it within the limits of our pages, it has been drawn in smaller 

 proportions than any of the other Trogons. In size the Resplendent Trogon is larger than the 

 species which has just been described, so that if it had been drawn to the same scale of pro- 

 portion, the engraving would have been rather more than sixteen inches in length, being 

 nearly double the length of the present pages. 



Of all the birds of the air there is hardly any which excites so much admiration as the 

 Resplendent Trogon. Many, such as the humming-bird, are gifted with greater brilliancy 

 of color ; but for gorgeousness of hue, exquisite blending of tints, elegance of contour and 

 flowing grace of plumage, there is no worthy rival in all the feathered tribe. This magnifi- 

 cent bird is a native of Central America, and was in former days one of the most honored 

 by the ancient Mexican monarchs, who assumed the sole right of wearing the long plumes, 

 and permitted none but the members of the royal family to decorate themselves with the 

 flowing feathers of this beautiful bird. 



In all the Trogons the skin is very delicate, and the feathers are so loosely attached 

 that they are always liable to be lost when the bird is handled ; but in the Resplendent 

 Trogon the skin is so singularly thin that it has not been inaptly compared to wet blotting- 

 paper, and the plumage has so slight a hold upon the skin, that when the bird is shot, the 

 feathers are plentifully struck from their sockets by its fall and the blows which it receives 

 from the branches as it comes to the ground. These peculiarities render the preservation of 

 the skin no easy task ; and the difficulty of removing the skin without injury is so well known 

 to the natives, that they almost invariably dry the body without attempting any further 

 preservation. 



This species is fond of inhabiting the densest forests of Southern Mexico, and generally 

 haunts the topmost branches of the loftiest trees, where it clings to the boughs like a parrot, 

 and traverses their ramifications with much address. It does not seem to expend much time 



