GOMMP iiLi
m O & O J IMEAIdABAK.IC1US.
Malabar Trogon.
S p e c i f ic C h a r a c t e r .
Mas. Trog.captte gutture, pectoreque fuliginoso-nigris, hoc torque la to alho ; ventre coccineo ;
dor so caudce superioribm sordide arenaceo-brunneis; scapularibus tectricibusque
alee nigris albo Jtexuosim strigatis; remigibus nigris, pogoniis externis alho Jimbrtatk
¡ '»•tricibus duabus intermediis subcastaneis nigro apiculatis, proximis duabus utrin-
prope rkachidem brunneis, reliquis ad basin nigris ad apicem albis.
From, i ¿■i'-. dorso, gutture, pectoreque sordidh brunneis; ventre luteo ; pectore hand torquato ;
x&mpuhiribus nigra brunneoque strigatis.
if-v.“; uigrum; mandibular urn basis regioque ophthalmica mid a cceruleae.
'?'% • has ¡he whole of the head and throat and chest sooty black; a crescent of white
• ¡-parate* the black of the chest (rot» the breast, which, with the whole of the under surface,
ts scarlet. th- back and upper s-Hrtace browfiish yellow; the middle of the wings black,
with ’;,itriMisve rse lines of white; primaries black, with their extreme outer edges white;
ihil two middle tail-feathers chestnut brown; the two next black, with a streak of chestnut
daw» the sides of the shafts; the three outer ones on each side black at their base, with
white tips . naked space rouud the eyes deep blue, gradually uniting with black on the
b ill; 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
mud» duller in hue . naked space round the eyes blueish lead colour; feet and legs dark
brown.
Toliii f c t n g t b . H 11* s j a d h w ; 5 i a c f o e s : tail, to " 7 *
Trogon Mtdahtmzw Pr»>ccedings of Zool. Soc., Part II. p. 26.
I: 4 «»«riltiiM instances to bestow as a specific title upon any bird the name of the country of which
i- ¡uh«h*tv>,nt . in the present instance, however, I have been induced to depart from this rule, from
tt/i _ : - ■ 0 «he present species being, as I believe, extremely local in its habitat. The Trogons in
do not- to be a migratory tribe ; it is therefore probable that that portion of the eastern contiMMf
g&Mte sdweF. ow Sudes Malabar is the only country in which tins fine species is to be seen in a state of
¡lip, t apt i&n mme strengthened in this opinion as I have never observed it in collections brought from
tUe
v,s point - 4 r4$ . ■; - ■ ' vs somewhat allied to the Trogon Temminckii, while its inferior size, lengthened
iijtriv.', and rne;;-., contour, together with the total absence of tbe red ear-coverts and nuchal band,
ap once distingtmiib s$ that species.
| Capt. Walter ¡¡fcsm .'w 'me that it is a solitary species, inhabiting the jungles which run parallel to
tjbe coast; and that lit ** acini in pairs in the most dense parts of the forest, sitting motionless on
ihe dead branch o f some; <i>-d tree, until passing insects arouse it to exertion. Being partly nocturnal in
m Habits, it becomes a-v • (i on the approach of evening, when it glides after its prey (in the pursuit of
whlAi displays the gttstfest tcfirkj Mid adroitness) »with meteor-like swiftness, returning again to some
i dead branch, much after the manner o f the Flycatchers.
Habitat, Malabar.
The .Plate represents a male and female.