TROGON SURUCURA, / 'kill. 
Surucua Trogxrn. 
Specific Character. 
Mas. Trog. vertice, cervice, pectoreque iridescenti-viridibus; facie guttureque nigris ; dorso 
saturate iridescenti-aureo-viridi in cceruleum ad uropygium vergente; rectricibus intermedhs 
duabus ccerulescenti-viridibus, duabns proximis utrinque pogoniis externis candescent i-viri- 
dibus internis nigris, barurn omnium apicibus nigris, reliquis dimidio basali nigro apicali 
albo ; remigibus nigrescenti-brunneis, albo adpogonia externa jimbriatis ; secundariis aldque 
supra nigro alboque lineolatim punctatimque variis; abdominis medio tectricibusque caudce 
infarioribus coccineis. 
Irides saturate rufescenti-brunneae; rostrum flavescenti-albidum; pedes saturate brunnei. 
Foem. Fuliginoso-cinerea; ventre imo caudaque tectricibus infarioribus coccineis; alls brunnes- 
centi-nigris, remigibus cdbo jimbriatis, secundariis plumisque coeteris cinereo-albido fasciatis ; 
rectricibus nigrescenti-brunneis; intermediis sex nigro apicidatis, reliquis albo fimbriatis nisi 
basin versus pogoniorum internorum. 
Rostrum cinereo-albidum. 
Male. Crown of the head, back of the neck, and chest changeable green and violet; throat and 
face black; back and upper tail-coverts deep changeable golden green, inclining to blue 
on the rump; the two middle tail-feathers bluish green, the two next on each side with 
their outer webs only bluish green, the inner black, the whole six tipped with black; the 
three outer feathers on each side have their basal half black, the remainder white; prima¬ 
ries blackish brown bordered with white on their exterior edges; secondaries and upper 
part of the wing freckled with markings of black and white ; centre of the abdomen and 
under tail-coverts crimson scarlet; bill yellowish white; irides deep reddish brown; feet 
dark brown. 
Female. Whole of the head, neck, chest, back and rump sooty grey; lower part of the belly 
and under tail-coverts scarlet; wings brownish black, primaries edged with white; the 
secondaries and upper part of the wings transversely rayed with greyish white ; six centre 
tail-feathers blackish brown tipped with black, three outer feathers on each side blackish 
brown margined on their exterior edges and partly so on their inner ones with white; bill 
greyish white. 
Total length, 10i inches; bill, 1 ; wing, 5 ; tail, 5i; tarsi, f. 
Le Surucua. Azara, Voy. dans l’Amerique Meridionale, tom. iv. No. ccnxx. 
-- Ibid., Sonnini’s Translation, tom. iv. p. 41. 
Trogon Surucura. Vieill., L’Encyclopedie Methodique, tom. 3. p. 1362. 
I have not the slightest hesitation in asserting this species of Trogon to be the Surucua of Azara, from whose 
elaborate work I am consequently induced to insert the following nearly literal translation. 
After informing us that Surucua is the native name of this bird in Paraguay, he proceeds to state that “ it 
is not common, and it does not quit the largest woods. It generally remains on the upper portions of the 
trees without descending to the lower branches or to the earth: it sits a long time motionless, watching for 
insects which may pass within its reach, and which it seizes with adroitness; it is not gregarious, but dwells 
either in solitude or in pairs ; its flight, which is rapid and performed in vertical undulations, is not prolonged. 
These birds are so tame as to admit of a near approach; I have seen them killed with a stick They do not 
migrate, and they are never heard except in the love season ; their note then consists but of the frequent repe¬ 
tition of the syllables pio in a strong, sonorous and melancholy voice : the male and female answer each other. 
They form their nest on the trees by digging into the lower part of the nest of a species of ant known by the 
name of cuphj, until they have made a cavity sufficiently large, in which the female deposits in the month of 
September two white eggs according to some, and four according to others. I have seen the male clinging 
to a tree, after the manner of the Woodpeckers, occupied in digging a nest with his beak, while the female 
remained tranquil on a neighbouring tree.” 
Azaia states that he has only seen this bird from Paraguay; I have, however, received it from the southern 
parts of the Brazils, and a single specimen formed part of the fine collection made by Capt. P. P. King during 
his sui \ ey of the Straits of Magellan. Although I have not been able to ascertain from what precise locality 
Capt. King s specimien was procured, I am inclined to believe that it has a more extensive range than is gene¬ 
rally suspected. t 
