Trogons 571 



gregated together in bunches. Writing of the White-backed Coly, Mr. Artmore 

 states that he once fired into such a sleeping cluster and killed twenty-five. Their 

 food consists almost entirely of fruits of various kinds, but in times of scarcity 

 they are said to accept such insect food as offers. The nests are usually placed 

 in the center of a dense bush, especially a mimosa bush, and are quite well made 

 structures of sticks and fine roots and lined with wool or similar substances. 

 The eggs, three or four in number, are white, sometimes somewhat streaked 

 with brown. The voice of the Colies is harsh and unmelodious. 



According to Sharpe, the genus Colius may be divided into three groups of 

 species, in the first of which the mantle and back are brown, vermiculated with 

 dusky bars, and the tail brown or ashy brown. In the second group the mantle 

 and back are gray, with the center of the lower back white and the tail gray, 

 while in the third group the upper parts are ashy or lavender brown, with the 

 rump and lower back bluish and the tail greenish or bluish gray. The species 

 are largely distinguished by the color markings of the bill. The species selected 

 for illustration is the Long-tailed Coly (C. macrourus). 



THE TROGONS 



(Suborder Trogones, Family Trogonidce) 



The Trogons constitute a very well marked group of beautiful plumaged 

 birds, ranging throughout the American tropics and occurring also in Africa 

 and Asia. This peculiar distribution might be difficult of explanation were it 

 not for the discovery of a fossil Trogon in the Miocene of France, making it 

 probable, as Dr. Wallace has suggested, that these birds enjoyed a much wider 

 distribution during the exceptionally mild period which prevailed in the Northern 

 Hemisphere in Miocene times and may then have ranged over much of Europe 

 and North America, but were pushed toward the tropics by the increase of cold, 

 which has since prevented their intermingling. They are small birds, mostly 

 under twelve inches in length, with a short but strong, wide, and somewhat curved 

 bill, the tip of which is hooked, and in many forms the edges of the mandibles 

 are more or less serrated. The rather pointed wings are of moderate size and 

 contain ten primaries, and the beauty of some of the forms is greatly increased 

 by the elongation of the upper coverts. The tail of twelve feathers is relatively 

 long and often beautifully colored, while in a few species the upper tail-coverts 

 are as long as or even longer than the tail itself, producing, as will be mentioned 

 later, some very striking forms. The skin in Trogons is exceedingly tender, and 

 the feathers, which are provided with a large aftershaft, are attached so lightly to 

 the skin that they are easily dislodged, thus making it a difficult matter for the 

 taxidermist to preserve them. But the most marked peculiarity, and one which 

 serves to distinguish them from all other birds, is the structure of the foot. The 

 tarsus is short, and the comparatively small and weak foot is "yoke-toed," that 

 is, with two toes in front and two behind, as in Woodpeckers, but unlike these 



