476 



SCANSOEES, OR CLIMBERS. 



regions of both continents. The most remarkable species is the 

 Resplendent Trog-on (Fig. 194), indigenous to Mexico and Brazil. 



The plumage of this bird is 

 of a magnificent emerald 

 green frosted with gold : 

 its head is surmounted by a 

 beautiful tuft of the same 



colour. The daughters of 



the Caciques in the New 

 World formerly used its 

 feathers in their dresses. At 

 the present time Creoles 

 emploj' them for the same 

 purpose. The most com- 

 mon species is the Trogon 

 jnexicanus (Fig- 195). 



TouRACOs, or Pla^taix- 

 EATERS {MusopJiagidcE), are 

 African bii'ds, of which the genei'al forms bear some analogy to 

 the Hoccos. They live in forests, and perch upon the highest 

 branches of trees : their flight is heavy and little sustained. 



19.5.- ^lexicLin Trogon {Trogon meJucanus, Guuld). 



Woodpeckers. 



The birds which compose this family are characterised by a 

 rather long, conical, pointed beak, and by a very extensible tongue. 

 They foi'm two genera. Woodpeckers and Wry-necks. 



W(joi)PE(;keus excel in the art of climbing, but they do not per- 

 form it in the same manner as Parrots. They accomplish theii- 

 ascensions by extending their toes, supplied with bent claws, upon 

 the trunk of a tree, and maintain themselves hann-ino- thci'e ; then 

 move themselves a little farther by a sudden and jerked skip, and 

 so on. These movements are facilitated by the disposition of 

 the tail, formed of straight resistant feathers, slightly worn awav 

 at their extremities, which, pressed against a tree, serve as a 

 support to the bird. Thanks to this organisation. Woodpeckers 

 traverse trees in every direction — downwards, upwards, or hori- 



