308 THE TROGCNS. 



unbarred. This species inhabits the dense forests of Caffraria ; 

 during the day it sits motionless on a low dead branch, and 

 it is only in the morning and evening that it displays activity. 

 Locusts and other insects are its principal food. 



Of all the Trogons none are so magnificent as the trogons 

 resplendetis, lately introduced to the knowledge of the scien- 

 tific world, as a distinct species by Mr. Gould, and admirably 

 figured in his splendid ' Monograph ' of the family trogonidce. 

 This bird, as stated by Mr. Gould, "is to be found only in the 

 dense and gloomy forests of the Southern States of Mexico." 

 Little known to Europeans, except within the last few years, 

 the brilliant plumes which fall over the tail (and which, as is 

 the whole of the upper surface of the body of this bird, are of 

 the richest metallic golden green) were made use of by the 

 ancient Mexicans, as ornaments on their head-dresses ; and 

 gorgeous must a head-dress be, composed of such feathers 

 soft, flowing, of dazzling lustre, and three feet in length. In 

 later times they have occasionally been transmitted as curi- 

 osities to Europe. Mr. Gould observes that M. Temminck is 

 the first who figured the present species ; but that celebrated 

 naturalist confounded it with the trogon pavoninus of Dr. 

 Spix, a Brazilian species to which it is nearly allied, but from 

 which it differs in having a soft silky crest, of long full fea- 

 thers, and the plumes of the tail-coverts extremely long, 

 whereas in the Pavonine Trogon there is no crest, and the 

 tail-coverts do not extend above an inch or two at most be- 

 yond the tail. 



Of the New World Trogons, those of Mexico possess in the 

 length of the tail (at least in many instances) a feature dis- 

 tinguishing them from all their congeners ; as an example 

 in point we may refer to the trogon elegans (Gould), a new 

 species, together with the trogon resplendens from Guati- 

 mala, a country rich in zoological stores, and constantly 

 affording new treasures for the contemplation and study of 

 the naturalist. 



No group of birds affords a clearer proof than the trogonido3 

 of the rapid advancement of ornithological knowledge, and 



