TROGONS. 435 



" The cries of the quesal are various. They consist principally of a low double 

 note, l whe-oo, whe-ooj which the bird repeats, whistling it softly at first, and then 

 gradually swelling it into a loud but not unmelodious cry. This is often succeeded 

 by a long note, which begins low, and, after swelling, dies away as it began. Both 

 these notes can be easily imitated by the human voice. The bird's other cries are 

 harsh and discordant. The flight of the quesal is rapid and straight ; the long tail- 

 feathers, which never seern to be in his way, stream after him. The bird is never 

 found except in forests composed of the highest trees, the lower branches of which 

 (i. e., those at about two-thirds of the height of the tree from the ground) seem to be 

 its favorite resort. Its food consists principally of fruit, but occasionally a caterpillar 

 may be found in its stomach." 



In most of the American species of the true trogons a certain uniform distribution 

 of colors is apparent, since the back and breast are either metallic green or brown- 

 ish, and the abdomen red or yellow, separated from the breast by a white band. 

 It may be remarked that this red or yellow of the lower parts in the trogons is very 

 evanescent, fading entirely out in museum specimens exposed to the light. In the 

 two West Indian genera, each consisting of one species, Priotelus and Temnotroffon^ 

 the former restricted to Cuba, the latter to the island of Haiti, the upper parts are 

 metallic green, posterior half of under parts brilliant red, while the anterior half is 

 delicately gray. While in most trogons the tail-feathers are somewhat square at the 

 end, this peculiarity is rather exaggerated in the West Indian forms, especially in the 

 Cuban Priotelus temnurus, in which the corners are produced into points, thereby 

 making the end concave, and forming a most remarkable tail. This latter form is 

 known to the Cubans as the 'tocororo,' a name derived from its cry. Dr. Gundlach 

 reports that it breeds in abandoned woodpecker holes, and deposits three to four white 

 eggs which have a slight bluish tinge. This, like some other American forms, has the 

 edges of the mandibles strongly serrated. The African genus, Apaloderma, has only 

 the lower mandible serrated, while the Indian Harpactes only have a notch before the 

 tip of the upper one. These, according to Jerdon, seize insects on the wing, much in 

 the same manner as the American species secure the fruits. 



Figure 218 represents the African species, Apaloderma narina, which is metallic 

 green on the back, head, and breast, while the rest of the under parts are brilliant 

 carmine, the bill yellow; it is, consequently, very similar to the American species in 

 coloration. Layard says that when apprehensive of discovery it sits motionless on its 

 branch until alarmed at some act of the fowler, when it precipitates itself headlong 

 into the bush, and is instantly lost to view. It feeds, he further states, on fruits and 

 insects, and utters a loud moaning note, or, perhaps, more correctly speaking, a 

 hoot. A nearly allied species from Western Africa was described in 1872 as A. con- 

 ttanrta. 



The last super-family of the Picariae, the MICROPODOIDE^E, was originally 

 founded by Nitzsch, who in his ' Macrochires ' only included the swifts and the hum- 

 ming-birds. It is also synonymous with Garrod's ' Cypseliformes,' the former basing 

 his conclusions chiefly upon osteology and pterylography, while the latter also em- 

 ployed the anatomy of the soft parts. Huxley united them with the goatsuckers in 

 the group ' Cypselomorphae,' taking chiefly the palatal bones into account ; but Parker 

 has shown that this structure is so different in the three families that it offers no 

 character which would bind them together to the exclusion of other birds. In this 

 place we shall only call attention to those characters which at once separate the 



