468 



SYSTEBIATIC SYNOPSIS. —PICABI^— CUCULIFOBMES. 



;A 



Family TROGONID^E : Trogons. 



Feet zygodactyle hy reversion of the second toe (see p. 127)- The 

 base of the short, broad, dentate bill is hidden by appressed antrorse 

 feathers; the wings are short and rounded, with falcate quills; the 

 tail is long, of twelve broad feathers ; the feet are very small and 

 weak. The general plumage is soft and lax, the skin tender, the 

 eyelids lashed. A well-marked family of about 50 species and 

 perhaps a dozen genera, chiefly inhabiting tropical America. Tliey 

 are of gorgeous colors, and among them are found the most magni- 

 ficent birds of this continent (flg. 317). 

 144. TROGON. (Gtr. rpmyo)!!, fro(/OH, a gnawer : alluding to the dentate bill.) The leading genus, 



to which the above characters fully apply. 

 432. T, ambi'guus. (Lat. ambiguiis, ambiguous, as doubtfully distinct from T. mexicanus. Fig. 318. j 

 COPPEE-TAILED Teogon. Metallic golden-green ; face and sides of head black ; below from 

 the breast carmine ; a white collar on the throat ; middle tail-feathers coppery-green, the outer 

 white, finely variegated with black ; quills edged with white. Length about 11.00 ; wing 5.25 ; 

 tail 6.75. Valley of the Lower Eio Grande, and southward. 



Fig. 318. —Head of Cop- 

 per-tailed Trogon, nat. sixo. 



[Family MOMOTID^E : Sawbills. 



Feet syndactyle hy cohesion of tliird 

 and fourth toes (p. 129) ; tomia serrate. 

 A very small family of tropical American 

 birds, comprising about 15 species, none 

 having really rightful place here ; but 

 the Momotus cosruleicejis (fig. 319) comes 

 near ( lur border, and is included to illus- 

 trate the suborder. In this species, the 

 central tail-feathers are long-exsei'ted, 

 and spatulate by absence of webs along 

 a part of the shaft — a mutilation eftected, 

 it is said, by the birds themselves; the 

 Fie. 319. — Head of Blue-headed Saw-bill, nat. size. bill is about as long as the head, gently 



curved; the nostrils are rounded, basal, exposed; the wings are short and rounded ; tlie tarsi 



are scuteUate anteriorly. It is greenish, with blue head. Mexico.] 



25. Family ALCEDINID^ : Kingfishers. 



Feet .syndactyle hy cohesion of third and fourth toes (p. 129, fig. 44) ; tomia simple. Bill long, 

 large, straight, acute (rarely hooked) ; somewhat " fissirostral," the gape being deep and wide. 

 Tongue rudimentary or very small. Nostrils basal, reached by the frontal feathers. Feet very 

 small and weak, scarcely or not ambulatorial ; tibiae naked below ; tarsi extremely short, reticu- 

 late in front ; hallux short, flattened underneath, its sole more or less continuous with the solo 

 of the inner toe ; soles of outer and middle toe in common for at least haU their length ; inner 

 toe always sliort, in one genus rudimentary, in another wanting (an abnormal modification). 

 Developed toes always with the normal ratio of phalanges (2, 3, 4, 5 ; p. 127) ; middle claw not 

 serrate. Wings long, of 10 primaries. Tail of 13 rectrices, variable in shape. 



" Tlie Kingfishers form a very natural family of the great Picarian order, and are alike 

 remarkable for their brilliant coloration and for the variety of curious and aberrant forms which 



