TROGONS 
197 
on wings and greenish on tail; naked eyelids plain yellowish in life. 
Length : 11.00-12.70, wing 5.12-5.65, tail 6.25-7-.00. 
Remarks. The black bill, absence of rufous on wings, and of blue and 
wide white thumb marks on tail distinguish this from the yellow-billed 
forms. 
Distribution. — Eastern North America,west to the eastern foothills of 
the Rocky Mountains, and from Labrador, Manitoba, and Assiniboia 
south in winter to the West Indies and the valley of the Amazon. Breeds 
mainly in Transition zone. 
Nest. — Better built than that of the other species, its platform of 
twigs being mixed with inner bark, rootlets, and weed stems, lined often 
with catkins; placed usually not over 6 feet from the ground in trees or 
bushes, on logs, or even on the ground. Eggs ; 2 to 5, bluish green. 
Food. — Largely caterpillars. , 
The black-billed cuckoo closely resembles the yellow-billed in 
general habits. Both birds have a trace of the parasitism of the old 
world species, sometimes laying in each other’s nests, and on rare 
occasions depositing their eggs in nests of other species. This is 
done more frequently by the black-billed, Major Bendire thinks. 
He holds that the real cause for such unnatural behavior on their 
part is not yet understood, as the cuckoos are most devoted parents. 
FAMILY TROGONIDiE : TROGONS. 
GENUS TROGON. 
389. Trogon ambiguus Gould. Coppery-tailed Trogon. 
Bill short and thick, edges serrated, gape bristled ; eyelids lashed; 
wings short and rounded; tail long with broad feathers; feet small and 
weak ; plumage soft and lax. Adult male : 
face and throat black, bordered on breast 
by white crescent; rest of under parts rose 
pink ; upper parts metallic bronzy green; 
wings mainly grayish; tail with middle 
feathers shading from bronzy to rich copper color, broadly tipped with 
black, outer feathers white, finely zigzagged with black. Adult female : 
similar, but black *of male replaced by gray, and metallic colors replaced 
by grayish brown, becoming reddish brown on middle tail feathers. 
Young: head, neck, and chest dull brownish gray, most of under parts 
grayish; eye ring and bar across ear coverts white; rest of upper parts 
brown ; wings with large spots of buffy and black ; tail much like adult 
female. Length: 11.25-12.00, wing 5.10-5.50, tail 6.50-7.20. 
Distribution. — From southern Texas and Arizona south to Mexico. 
Food. — Fruit and grasshoppers and other insects. 
The trogon lives in pines in the mountains of southern Arizona. 
Its note is described by Dr. Fisher as similar to that of a hen turkey. 
The bird the doctor saw calling sat upright on a pine branch with 
tail hanging, and at each note threw back its head and pointed its 
bill to the sky like a peacock. 
Fig. 259. 
