TROGON MALABARICUS 
Malabar Trogon. 
Specific Character. 
Mas. Trog. capite, gutture, pectoreque fuliginoso-nigris, hoc torque lato albo ; ventre coccineo ; 
dorso tectricibusque caudce superioribus sordide arenaceo-brunneis; scapularibus tectricibusque 
alee majoribus nigris albo jlexuosim strigatis; remigibus nigris, pogoniis externis albo Jim- 
briatis; rectricibus duabus intermediis subcastaneis nigro apicidatis, proximis duabits utrin- 
que nigris prope rhachidem brunneis, reliquis ad basin nigris ad apicern albis. 
Foem. Capite, dorso, gutture, pectoreque sordide brunneis ; ventre luteo; pectore baud torquato ; 
scapularibus nigro brunneoque strigatis. 
Rostrum nigrum ; mandibularum basis regioque ophthalmica nuda coeruleae. 
The male has the whole of the head and throat and chest sooty black; a crescent of white 
separates the black of the chest from the breast, which, with the whole of the under surface, 
is scarlet; the back and upper surface brownish yellow ; the middle of the wings black, 
with fine transverse lines of white; primaries black, with their extreme outer edges white; 
the two middle tail-feathers chestnut brown ; the two next black, with a streak of chestnut 
down the sides of the shafts; the three outer ones on each side black at their base, with 
white tips ; naked space round the eyes deep blue, gradually uniting with black on the 
bill; legs and feet lead colour. 
The female has the crown of the head, chest, and all the upper surface brown, inclining to grey 
on the chest; breast and under surface yellowish brown; wings black, their centres having 
fine transverse lines of brown; the tail-feathers nearly resembling those of the male, but 
much duller in hue; naked space round the eyes blueish lead colour; feet and legs dark 
brown. 
Total length, 11 to 111 inches ; wing, 5 inches ; tail, 6l to 7- 
Trogon Malabaricus. Gould, Proceedings of Zool. Soc., Part II. p. °26. 
I am unwilling’ in most instances to bestow as a specific title upon any bird the name of the country of which 
it is an inhabitant; in the present instance, however, I have been induced to depart from this rule, from 
the circumstance of the present species being, as I believe, extremely local in its habitat. The Trogons in 
general do not appear to be a migratory tribe; it is therefore probable that that portion of the eastern con¬ 
tinent alone which includes Malabar is the only country in which this fine species is to be seen in a state of 
nature. I am the more strengthened in this opinion as I have never observed it in collections brought from 
the adjacent islands. 
In point of affinity it is somewhat allied to the Trogon Temminckii, while its inferior size, lengthened 
form, and more elegant contour, together with the total absence of the red ear-coverts and nuchal band, 
at once distinguish it from that species. 
Capt. Walter Smee informs me that it is a solitary species, inhabiting the jungles which run parallel to 
the coast; and that it is generally seen in pairs in the most dense parts of the forest, sitting motionless on 
the dead branch of some elevated tree, until passing insects arouse it to exertion. Being partly nocturnal in 
its habits, it becomes animated on the approach of evening, when it glides after its prey (in the pursuit of 
which it displays the greatest activity and adroitness) with meteor-like swiftness, returning again to some 
dead branch, much after the manner of the Flycatchers. 
Habitat, Malabar. 
The Plate represents a male and female. 
