O22 ZOOLOGY. 
of handsome birds, with remarkably wide and strong bills which are said to 
be used in the capture of coleopterous insects, upon which these birds 
subsist. No one of the species is very common in collections, though the 
Eurylaimus nasutus is frequent. It lives in the retired and shaded 
jungles, where it constructs a pendent nest, usually in the neighborhood of 
the water. 
Sub-fam. 4. Momotine, or Metmots. Bill long, elevated, and broad at 
the base, with the sides compressed, and the margins serrated. Wings 
short, rounded ; tail long, graduated, with the two middle feathers usually 
much the longest, and generally with their shafts bare for a considerable © 
distance; tarsi and feet moderate. Size moderate, much larger than 
either of the two last sub-families ; colors brilliant. 
This is a sub-family consisting of some twelve or thirteen species of 
beautiful birds, which are restricted to the warmer parts of America. 
They prefer the shades of the forest, but seem occasionally to frequent 
deserted or dilapidated buildings. They feed indiscriminately upon fruits, 
snakes, lizards, and insects, which are taken with the point of the bill and 
tossed upwards to be caught in the extended mouth. It is said that they : 
also rob the nests of other birds. The Brazilian motmot (Momotus 
brasiliensis) is the most common species, being very abundant in Brazil 
and other countries of South America. Several species have been found 
in Mexico and the West Indies. 
Fam. 4. Troconips, or Trocons. General form stout, but rather 
“graceful. Bill short, strong, broad at the base, with the tip hooked ; 
nostrils basal generally, and concealed by the projecting feathers. Plumage 
very beautiful. } 
This family is composed of a few genera of handsome birds, most 
numerous in tropical America and Asia, one species alone having been 
found in Africa. 
Sub-fam. 1. Trogonine, or true Trogons, of America. Bill short, strong, 
with the base very broad and nostrils concealed ; wings short; tail ample. 
sometimes long; tarsi short and feathered; plumage of the head frequently 
elongated and crest-like. Colors brilliant metallic green and red. 
These splendid birds are peculiar to tropical America. They are 
represented by travellers as solitary and quiet birds, remaining within the 
dense foliage. of the tropical forests, and feeding upon both fruits and 
insects. Beetles are their favorite food, upon which as well as berries they 
dart in the manner of swallows. Incubation is performed in hollow trees, 
in which no nests are built, but the eggs are laid upon the bare wood. 
About thirty species of the Trogons are known to inhabit South 
America and Mexico, all of which possess much beauty of plumage; but 
there is a small genus (Calurus) remarkable for the great length of the 
upper tail-coverts, which are amongst the most splendid of birds. The C. 
resplendens is a species found in Yucatan, and is the bird alluded to by 
Stephens as having been considered sacred by the ancient inhabitants of 
that country. It has the tail-coverts developed to several times th length 
of its body, and the whole plumage of the most beautiful metallic green 
526 
