450 CLASS XVI. 



Family XXIII. Trogonince. Bill short, curved, broad at the 

 base, with margins mostly serrate or denticulate. Gape of mouth 

 ample. Feet short. Inner toe turned backwards, outer forwards; 

 hence the two outer toes shorter than the two inner. 



Trogon L. (Characters of the family those also of the single 

 genus. Nostrils basal, lateral, covered more or less with plumules. 

 Recumbent bristles at the base of bill. Wings moderate, with first 

 quill short, fourth longest of all. Tarsi slender, short, very often 

 hirsute. Tail broad, long, sometimes with very long coverts.) 



The trogons (couroucous) are tropical birds of the western and eastern 

 hemispheres, which live in woods and feed on insects. They have some 

 affinity with the genus CaprimuLgus. Their plumage is soft and thick and 

 mostly glossy, with a green metallic lustre. Their furcula is closed in 

 front. 



J. GOULD, A Monograph of the Trogonidce, with 36 coloured plates. 

 London, 1835 1838, folio. 



a) From America : 



Sp. Trogon curucui L., BUFF. PI. enl. 452, 737; Trogon resplendent GOULD, 

 Trogon pavoninus TEMM. (not SPIX) PI. col. 372, GUR. Icon., Ois. PI. 35, 

 fig. i; Trogon pulckellus GOULD, Trogon id. PI. 22, Trogon antisianus 

 D'ORBIGNY, GUER. Magas. de Zool. 1837, Ois. PI. 85, &c. 



6) From the East Indies: Trogon Reinwardtii TEMM., PI. col. 124, &c. 



Sub-genera: Trogon SWAINS., Priotelus GRAY (Temnurus SWAINS.), 

 Apaloderma SWAINS., Harpactes SWAINS., and Calurus ejusdem. Comp. 

 SWAINSON Birds, LARDNER'S Cabinet Cyclopcedia, n. pp. 337, 338, and 

 GRAY Gen. of Birds, I. pp. 69 71. 



Family XXIV. Cuculince nob., Amphiboli ILL. (add Cory- 

 thaix and Musophagd). Bill with culmen deflected in a curve into 

 the tip. Bristles at the lower mandible none. Tongue not jacu- 

 latorial. Tarsi covered in front with a row of broad scutes; pos- 

 terior outer toe versatile. 



In the skeletons of this family, which I have investigated, I find 

 the sternum with only one incisure on each side behind. The 

 furcula is perfect and attached to the sternum. 



Section I. Musophagides. Bill hard, high at the base, with 

 culmen mostly keeled, deflected in an arc towards the tip. Margin 

 of upper mandible crenate. Tarsi strong, elongate. Middle toe 

 much longer than lateral toes, external versatile, often directed 



