HARPACTES HODGSONI, Gould. 



Hodgson's Trog-on. 



Trogon Hodgsonii, Gould, Mon. Trog., pi. 34. 



Harpactes Hodgsonii, Gould, Mon. Trog., syn. spec. Harpactes, sp. 6.— McClell. Proc. Zool. Soc, part vii. p. 166. 



Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 71, Harpactes, sp. 3 —lid. Cat. of Spec, and Draw, of Mamm. 



and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 56.— Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. 



Soc. Calcutta, p. 80.— Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. i. p. 151, Harpactes, sp. 3.— Horsf. and Moore, 



Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. ii. p. 713. 



Hodgsoni, Jerd. Birds of India, vol. i. p. 202. 



Trogon (Harpactes) Hodgsonii, Gould, Mon. Trog., List of Plates, no. 34. 



Harpactes erythrocephalus, Gray, List of Spec, of Birds in Brit. Mus., part ii. sect. i. p. 45 —Blyth, Cat. of Birds 



in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, app. p. 322. 

 Pyrotrogon Hodgsoni, Bonap. Consp., vol. Zygod. p. 14. gen. 5 e. 39.— Cab. et Heine, Mus. Hein., Theil iv. p. 160. 

 Trogon dilectus, F. B. Hamilton's MSS., vol. i. p. 63. 

 Suda sohaghin, Bengalese (male), Dr. Hamilton. 

 Hummesha Peeara ( u always thirsty "), Hindoos (male), Hamilton. 

 Cuchcuchea, Bengalese (female), Hamilton. 

 Sakvor pho, Lepchas, Jerdon. 



Mr. Jerdon and some other ornithologists are of opinion that the Trogons to which I have assigned the 

 specific appellations of erythrocephalus and Hodgsonii are identical ; hut, as I have pointed out in my 

 * Monograph of the Trogonidae/ they differ considerably in size, and somewhat in their colouring; and, until 

 I have further evidence than has yet been adduced of their identity, I shall continue to regard them as con- 

 stituting two species. However this may be, the accompanying figures were taken from specimens killed in 

 the great Himalayan range, and consequently represent the two sexes of the true Harpactes Hodgson?. 



The following interesting extract from Mr. Jerdon's valuable work the 'Birds of India' comprises 

 nearly all that has been recorded respecting the history of this fine bird: — 



" This handsome Trogon," says Mr. Jerdon, " is found in the Himalayas, from Nepaul eastward, in 

 Assam, Sylhet, Arrakan, and Tenasserim. It prefers hilly places at from 2000 to 4500 feet. At Darjeeling 

 I found it chiefly at about 4000 feet, frequenting dark-shaded valleys and flying from tree to tree at no great 

 elevation, or a few of them together, keeping near the same spot, making sallies every now and then, and 

 seizing insects on the wing. It feeds on Coleoptera chiefly. Tickell, who lately observed it on the 

 Tenasserim hills, about 3000 feet and upwards, says that it flies in small troops, is active and vociferous in 

 the morning, solitary and quiet during the heat of the day. I had the eggs of the Trogon brought me at 

 Darjeeling : they were said to have been taken from a hole in a tree ; and were two in number, white and 

 somewhat round, There was no nest, it was stated; only some soft scrapings of decayed wood." 



The male has the head, neck, and breast deep blood-red, separated from the rich scarlet of the under 

 surface by a narrow line of white ; back and upper tail-coverts cinnamon-brown, brightest on the rump ; wing- 

 coverts and tertiaries striated with fine wavy lines of black and white ; primaries black, margined on their 

 outer webs with white ; two centre tail-feathers rich chestnut-brown, tipped with black ; the next on each 

 side black, with two thirds, from the base, of the outer web, and a fine line down the shaft on the inner web, 

 rich chestnut-brown ; the next on each side black, with the basal half of the outer web rich chestnut-brown ; 

 the three lateral feathers on each side black, largely tipped with white, which extends some length down the 

 outer web ; " bill deep smalt-blue, becoming black along the culmen and at the tip ; irides chestnut-brown ; 

 orbital skin deep lavender-blue; legs and feet pale lavender" (Jerdon). 



The female differs in having the head, neck, breast, and upper surface cinnamon-brown, palest on the 

 rump and upper tail-coverts ; under surface pale crimson, separated from the cinnamon of the throat, as in 

 the male, by a narrow crescent of white ; and the undulations on the wing black and brown instead of black 

 and white. 



The Plate represents the two sexes, of the natural size. The plant is the Benthamia fragifercu 



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