484 TEOGONID^. 



a long note, which after swelling dies away as it began. Both these notes can be easily 

 imitated by the mouth. The bird's other cries are harsh and discordant : they are 

 best produced by doubling a pliant leaf over the first fingers, which must be kept about 

 two inches apart ; the two edges of the leaf being then placed in the mouth and the 

 breath drawn in, the required sound is produced. When searching for Quezals the 

 hunter whistles as he walks along, here and there sitting down and repeating the other 

 notes. As soon as he hears a bird answering at a distance he stops, and imitates the 

 bird's cries until it has approached near enough to enable him either to shoot it from 

 where he stands or to creep up to within shot. The female generally flies up first and 

 perches on a tree near the hunter, who takes no notice of her, but continues calling till 

 the male, who usually quickly follows the female, appears. Should the male not show 

 himself, the hunter will sometimes shoot the female. It is thus that so large a 

 proportion of males are shot. The flight of the Quezal is rapid and straight ; the long 

 tail-feathers, which never seem in his way, stream after him. It sits almost motionless 

 on its perch, the body remaining in the same position, the head only moving slowly 

 from side to side. The tail does not hang perpendicularly, the angle between the true 

 tail and the vertical being perhaps as much as 15 or 20 degrees; it is occasionally 

 jerked open and closed again, and now and then slightly raised, causing the long 

 coverts to vibrate gracefully. The food consists principally of fruit, which is plucked 

 on the wing, but an occasional caterpillar is also eaten. 



The nest of the Quezal is made in the hollow of a tree, and the following note by 

 Mr. Robert Dwen, who was then living at the hacienda of San Gerdnimo in Vera Paz, 

 gives a good account of its first discovery ^^ : — 



" Mountains of Santa Cruz, 11th June, 1860. — In an expedition to the mountains of 

 Santa Cruz one of our hunters told me that he knew of a Quezal's nest about a league 

 from Chilasco, a place in the same range, and offered to shoot for me the female and 

 bring me the eggs if I would send my servant to help him. This I accordingly did, 

 and my man returned with the hen and two eggs. They stated that they found the 

 nest in a hollow of a decayed forest-tree, about 26 feet from the ground. There was 

 but one orifice, not more than sufficiently large to allow the bird to enter, and the 

 whole interior cavity was barely large enough to admit of the bird turning round. 

 Inside there were no signs of a nest, beyond a layer of small particles of decayed wood 

 upon which the eggs Avere deposited. The mountaineers all say that the bird avails 

 itself of the deserted hole of a Woodpecker for its nesting-place, probably founding 

 the supposition on the evideut inaptness of the birds for boring into trees." 



These eggs are of a bluish-green tint without spots or markings, and measure axis 

 1"4 in., diam. 1'15 in. 



The above account of the nesting-habits of the Quezal and the colour and number 

 of its eggs corresponds exactly with that given by Salmon of the allied P. auriceps 

 which he found breeding in the valley of the Cauca in Colombia. The story put in 



