170 THE WOBLD'S BIRDS. 



NEST. A hole in a tree or bank. 



EGGS. White or tinted ; two to four in number. 



INCUBATION. About three weeks. 



FOOD. Insects and fruit ; chiefly or entirely the former 

 in Old World species. Food is usually taken on 

 the wing, the bird darting out to catch an insect 

 or pluck a fruit, and then returning to its perch. 



GAIT. They seem not to hop or walk about, but to 

 either fly or remain perched. 



FLIGHT. Whirring when flying a short distance, un- 

 dulating when going far. 



NOTE. Rather discordant ; clucking, whistling, or 

 chattering. 



DISPOSITION AND HABITS. They are solitary, unsocial 

 and quiet, frequenting forests. 



ECONOMIC QUALITIES. As insect destroyers they are 

 serviceable, and the fruit they take is only wild 

 berries ; they are also very ornamental. 



CAPTIVITY. The Indian Red-headed Trogon (Harpactes 

 erythrocephalus) has been kept in captivity at the 

 Calcutta Zoological Garden, and an American 

 species in the New York one ; the ancient Aztecs 

 also used to keep the Quezal (Pharomacrus mocinno) 

 for the sake of its plumage. 



DISTRIBUTION AND IMPORTANT SPECIES. The family, 

 which includes about fifty species, is found, 

 in warm regions only, all round the world, but 

 not in Australia ; and only two species are African. 

 The only species generally known as they are 

 never abundant or familiar birds is the cele- 

 brated Quezal of Central America, above-men- 

 tioned, figured on the Guatemala stamps. It is as 

 large as a pigeon, intense golden-green, with red 

 abdomen, and with the male's upper tail-coverts 

 a yard long. 



