i6 FI CAR IAN BIRDS. 



the quezal {Pharomiacrus mocinno) of Guatemala. Every naturalist who has 

 had the good fortune to see this bird in its wild state describes it as extremely 

 beautiful, and even when preserved, its plumage differs from that of its congeners 

 in its retention of the original coloration ; a skin which has been exposed to the 

 light in the British Museum for some half a century still being almost as brilliant 

 as when first mounted. In the other species, on the contrary, the bright yellow 

 or crimson of the breast fades with sad rapidity. The range of the quezal 

 extends from Guatemala to Panama, but as considerable numbers of the skins of 

 these birds are sent yearly to Europe as plumes for bonnets, the species has 

 become very scarce. Ornamented with a large rounded crest on the head, the 

 male bird has the ground - colour of the plumage a brilliant metallic gi*een, while 

 the throat and chest are likewise metallic green, as are also the wings and 

 upper tail-covei-ts ; the two central plumes of the latter being enormously 

 developed, and fully four times as long as the tail ; while the rest of the under- 

 parts, from the chest downwards, are deep blood -red. The median wing- 

 coverts are metallic green, and so produced as to fomi elegant drooping plumes ; 

 while the outer tail-feathei-s are white with black bases. The female is much 

 less brightly coloured than her mate, having a bi*ownish breast and the bill 

 black instead of yellow. The head is golden-green, and the outer tail-feathei-s 

 are white barred with black. Mr. Salvin gives an interesting account of 

 his hunting the quezal in Guatemala. After a difficult march through 

 the forest, the way barred by swollen torrents and fallen trees, he at last 

 managed to get within sight of one of the birds, which had been attracted 

 by liis guide imitating its notes. This imitation is not difficult, since the 

 whistle is described as " a low double note, whe-oo, whe-oo, uttered softl}'^ at first, 

 and then gi-adually swelling into a loud but not unmelotlious cry ; this is succeeded 

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

 other cries of the bird are harsh, discordant, and not so easily imitated. When 

 detected, the bird was observed sitting almost motionless on its perch, merely 

 moving its head slowly from side to side, with the tail somewhat raised and 

 occasionally jerked open, and again as rapidly closed, thus causing a vibration 

 of its long upper-coverts. In spite of the length of the streaming tail-feathers, 

 which appear to form no bar to its progress, the flight of this trogon is straight 

 and rapid. Of the golden-headed trogon (P. auriceps), of Peru, Mr. Stolzmann 

 writes that it is exclusively a bird of the forests, frequenting the lower 

 branches of the highest trees at a considerable distance from the ground. It is 

 generally seen in pairs, but sometimes two or three pairs may be met with 

 together. " I was struck," he writes, " with the vertical position which it assumes 

 on the large horizontal boughs, and I observed by the aid of my field-glasses that, 

 instead of perching on the upper surface of the branch, it remains attached to the 

 side of the latter, just as woodpeckers glue themselves to the trunks and vertical 

 branches of trees. Its flight is rapid but weak. It feeds on fruits, especially on 

 nectandras ; and in the stomach of one I found a nectandra-f ruit so large as to 

 fill the whole stomach. I suppose, therefore, that the trogon, like the guacharo, 

 rejects the nut after having digested the flesh, because otherwise some time must 

 elapse before it could swallow another fruit. The species has two cries, both well 



