TROGON MELANURUS, Swainson. 
Black-tailed Trogon. 
Sfecific Character. 
Trog. vertice, pectore summo et corpore supra intense aureo-viridibus; loris, regione auriculari, 
gulaque nigris, hoc aureo-viridi nitente; pectore albo transversim fasciato; corpore subtus 
pulcherrime coccineo; alls nigris, medialiter lineis delicatis albis striatis primariisque extus 
albo marginatis; caudd nigra, rectricibus sex intermediis purpureo et viridi tinctis; duabus 
externis extus lineis obscuris albis striatis; rostro Jlavo; pedibus stramineis. 
Fcem. Capite, corpore supra, gutture pectoreque intense cinereis; alls nigris, obscure striis 
albis medialiter notatis; caudd nigra, rectricibus duabus externis extus crissoque coccineis. 
Male. —Crown of the head, chest, and all the upper surface dark golden green ; space between 
the bill and the eye, ear-coverts, and throat black, gradually passing into the golden green ; 
breast crossed by a band of white, beyond which all the under surface is rich fiery 
scarlet; wing black, the centre striated with fine wavy lines of white, and the primaries 
margined externally with the same colour ; tail black, the six centre feathers tinged with 
purple and green, and the outer web of the lateral feather on each side faintly striated 
with white, as in the centre of the wing ; bill yellow ; feet straw-yellow. 
Female. —Head, all the upper surface, throat, and breast dark grey ; wings and tail black, with 
a faint indication of the white striae on the centre of the wing and the outer webs of the 
lateral tail-feathers; vent and under tail-coverts scarlet. 
Total length 12 inches; bill 1§; wing 6|; tail 6|; tarsi \. , 
Couroucou a ventre rouge de Cayenne. Buff. PI. Enl. 452. 
Trogon curucui, var. Gm. S. N. i. p. 403. 
Le Couroucou d Anierique male d ventre rose. Levaill. Hist. Nat. Courouc. pi. i. 
Le Couroucou a ventre rose dans son premier age. Levaill. t. c. pi. 2. 
Trogon curucui (nee Linn.). Bonn, et Vieill. Enc. Meth. iii. p. 1362.—Gray, Gen. B. i. 
p. 69.—Burm. Syst. Uebers. ii. p. 275.—Gray, Hand-1. B. i. p. 81. 
Trogon strigilatus. Spix, Av. Bras. i. p. 49. 
-- melanurus. Swains. An. in Menag. p. 329.—Gould, Monogr. Trogon. text to pi. 18. 
_Gray, List Fissir. Brit. Mus. p. 41.—Cab. in Schomb. Reis. Brit. Guian. iii. 
p. 718.—Sel. P. Z. S. 1857, p. 261, etl860, p. 284.—Id. Cat. Am. B. p. 277.—Scl. 
& Salv. P. Z. S. 1866, p. 193.—lid. op. cit. 1867, pp. 583, 978.—lid. op. cit. 1869, 
p. 598.—Pelz. Orn. Bras. pp. 19, 402.—Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1873, p. 292.—lid. 
Nomencl. Av. Neotr. p. 104. 
Trogon nigricaudatus. Gould, Monogr. Trogon. pi. 18. 
Curucujus melanurus. Bp. Consp. Vol. Zyg. p. 14. 
Troctes melanurus. Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. Th. iv. p. 202. 
-- mesurus. Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. iv. p. 203 ? 
In the first edition of this Monograph I stated my opinion that Swainson’s name of melanurus was the 
best one that could be employed for the present species, as being undoubtedly applicable, and at the same 
time the oldest recognizable title for it. Although Mr. George Robert Gray believed it to be the true 
Trogon curucui of Linmeus, his opinion has not been concurred in by the majority of ornithologists, neither 
can I adopt it. 
