Vlll 
INTRODUCTION. 
long attenuated feathers, with barbs disarranged and luxuriant, make them appear more bulky 
than they really are. These too are so feebly implanted, that they fall at the slightest 
agitation ; and their skin is so delicate that it will tear at the slightest tension.” 
“These birds are solitary and extremely jealous of their freedom. They never fre¬ 
quent inhabited or open tracts. They delight in the silence of deserts, where they even 
fly the society of their consimilars. The interior of the thickest forests is their chosen 
abode for the entire year. They are sometimes seen on the summit of trees ; but in general 
they prefer the centre, where they remain a portion of the day without descending to 
the ground, or even to the lower branches. Here they lie in ambush for the insects 
which pass within their reach, and seize them with address and dexterity. Their flight 
is lively, short, vertical and undulating. Though they thus conceal themselves in the 
thick foliage, it is not through distrust; for when they are in an open space, they may 
be approached so nearly as to be struck with a stick. They are rarely heard to utter 
any cries, except during the season of reproduction; and then their voice is strong, 
sonorous, monotonous, and melancholy. They have many cries, from the sound of one of 
which their name is derived.” 
9 
“All those whose habits are known nestle in the holes of worm-eaten trees, which 
they enlarge with their bills, so as to form a comfortable and roomy residence. The 
number of eggs is from two to four; and the young are born totally naked ; but their 
feathers begin to start two or three days after their birth.” 
The position of the Trogonidae in the ‘ Systema Naturae ’ has been, and still is, 
a subject of debate amongst ornithologists; but that the family is a very homogeneous one 
is admitted on all hands. Professor Huxley, in his Classification of Birds (P. Z. S. 1867, 
p. 467), places the Trogons in the Coccygomorphae, in which are associated a number of 
families of birds under the following arrangement:— 
a. The first toe turned forwards, as well as the others. 
Coliidae. 
