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THE RESPLENDENT TROGON. 



These beautiful birds are found in the Old and the New Worlds, 

 those which inhabit the latter locality being easily distinguishable by 

 their deeply-barred tails. Those of the Old World are generally found 

 in Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, while only a single species, the 

 Nurina Trogon, is as yet known to inhabit Africa. 



The Trogons are mostly silent birds, the only cry used being that of 

 the male during the season of pairing. It is not a very agreeable 



sound, being of a sombre 

 and melancholy cast, and 

 thought to resemble the 

 word " courou-courou." 



Several of the Trogons 

 are distinguished from 

 their relatives by the 

 length and downy loose- 

 ness of many of the feath- 

 ers, more especially the 

 lance-shaped feathers of 

 the shoulders and the 

 elongated upper tail-cov- 

 erts. On account of this 

 structure of the plumage, 

 they are gathered into a 

 separate genus under the 

 appropriate title of Calu- 

 rus, or Beautiful-tailed 

 Trogons. 



The Resplendent Trogon ( Calurus respkndens). ^he Resplendent Tro- 

 gon 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. 



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 ramifi- 

 cations with much address. 



The color of the adult male bird is generally of a rich golden green 

 on the upper parts of the body, including the graceful rounded crest, 

 the head, neck, throat, chest, and long lancet-shaped plumes of the 

 shoulders. The breast and under parts are brilliant scarlet, the cen- 

 tral feathers of the tail are black, and the exterior white, with black 

 bars. The wonderful plumes which hang over the tail are generally 

 about three feet in length, and in particularly fine specimens have 



