TROGON MELANOCEPHALA 
Black-headed Trog*on. 
Specific Character. 
Trog. capite, gutture, pecioreque nigris ; dorso caudceque tectricibus superioribus saturate viri~ 
dibus purpureo parum tinctis ; alls cauddque nigris, rectricibus intermediis duabus viridi 
tinctis, extimis utrinque tribus macula quadrata alba apicali notatis', ventre tectricibusque 
caudcB ir^erioribus aurantiacis. 
Rostrum coerulescenti-cinereum. 
Bill bluish grey ; whole of the head, occiput, throat, and chest black ; back and upper tail- 
coverts deep green with a tinge of purple ; wings black ; breast and under tail-coverts 
orange ; tail black, the two middle feathers tinged with green, and the three outer ones on 
each side black, tipped with a square spot of white. 
Total length. Hi inches ; bill, 1 ; wing, 5i ; tail, 6; tarsi, 1. 
Trogon melanocephala. Gould, Proceedings of Zool. Soc., Part III. 
A SINGLE specimen of this new Trogon formed part of a series of birds collected in the neighbourhood of 
Tamaulipas, a district of Mexico situated between Vera Cruz and the Bay of Honduras. Although it possesses 
several characters by which it may be distinguished from all others of its race, the most novel and striking 
feature is the colouring of the head and chest, which is uniform dull black, in consequence of which I have 
given it the specific appellation of melanocephala. The specimen above mentioned is now in the collection of 
the Zoological Society of London, where it will be at all times available to those who may wish to examine it 
personally. I regret to add that it was much mutilated, although not to such an extent as to prevent me 
from making an accurate drawing of it. I feel confident that the specimen is that of a fully adult male, and 
that in point of affinity it is closely allied to Trog. melanopterus, from which, independently of its black head, 
it may readily be distinguished by having less white on the three outer tail-feathers, and by the square manner 
in which the white is joined to the black. 
