TROCMWST TAEIBG-ATUSilSpis).
Purple-treastei Trogon.
JVatittLtyCOiUinunuu.'
TROGON VARIEGATUS, Spiv.
Purple-breasted Trog’on.
Mas. Frog. vtrtdss ; capt/v Mwm pectoreque purpureis, illo Jrontem versus nigrescens; &H$ in
medio minute limadk ikiaew&is nigris albisque no tat is, remigibus' saturate brunnets pogoniis
exterms albis; rectricibus dtmbm mtermediis chalybeo-viridibus nigro: upicuiatis, proxm is
utrmane duabus nigris ad murginem exteriorem viridibus, reliquis ad basin nigris apicem
versus nigra albogue J'asciatis t&picis macula quadrat a alba ; corpore subtus, prceter. pectus,
saturate coccineo ; Jemoribus nigris.
Irides satura$& brunneae; rostrum flavescenti-albidum ; pedes cosrulescenti-cinerei.
Foem. Fuliginoso-cinerem, caudd brunneo tinctfi ; alis in m<dn> aiho fasciatis; pectore albo;
- rectricibus extimis utrvtqttr trims* page*ws e-itcf-au* MpN* fffsrtat
Male. Bill yellowish vtteie; head ami eHew omfMg mto Uaek m> tk; ferebead;
minute zigaag awrking* 5 Waefe and white: pnmams (lark brow a wiib their outer edges
white ; two middle tail-featbCTs greeo lipped with black, two next on each side black
with their outer edges green.; the three outer feathers on each side black at the base, and
barred with white and black, ending m a scjuare mark of white ; whole of the under surface
deep scarlet; thiglis black; tarsi bluish grey ; irides very dark brown.
Female. Head, chest, and upper surface dark sooty grey; centre of the wing distinctly barred
with white; upper part of the abdomen white, merging into scarlet on,'the belly and
under tail-coverts; tail deep sooty grey with a tinge of brown, the three outer feathers
barred with blabk on their outer edges.
Total length, 9 inches ; bill, 1 ; wing, 4 ; tail, 5 ; tarsi, -f.
, Trogon variegatus. Spix, Av. Sp. Nov. tom. 1. pi. xxxvm*. p. 49.
sidering the lower one to be a very old male; but with regard to the eewtet oae ! awi rofuer uncertain, some
appearances inducing me to believe it to be a young male in the state intermediate between youth and maturity,
when it has acquired the perfect wings and tail but wants the brilliancy of the upper surface. I would
here suggest that probably these birds may at some seasons, through the action of light and heat, lose the
^metallic lustre of their plumage, and consequently bear the sombre appearance of the centre bird in oufrlate.
Although not fully prepared to assert that this is the case, I am borne out in my opinion by discovering, on
minuteb ttewiBior the bird that the wing-feat hers are old, worn, ntti partly decomposed. The upper figure
On examining other specimens of this bird in the collection of $£. Natterer, I find that k is subject to a