TROGON ATRICOL L I S , Vieill
Black-throated Trogon.
S p e c i f ic C h a r a c t e r .
Mas. Trog. vertice, dorso, pectoreque viridibus ; alis in medio nigris cinereo maculatis ; remi-
gibus nigris pogoniis externis albo Jimbriatis ; auribus guttureque nigris, hoc posticè albo
obsolete cincto ; pectore ventreque aurantiaco ; rectricibus duabus intermediis subcupreo-
viridibus nigro apicidatis, duabus proximis utrinque nigris pogoniis externis viridi fimbri-
atis, coeteris prope rhachin nigris pogoniis albo nigroque fasciatis et ad apicem albis.
Foem. Capite, dorso, gutture, rectricibusque sex intermediis brunneis, his nigro apicidatis;
remigibus coeteris obsoletiùs fasciatis ; ventre minus aurantiaco.
Rostrum flavum olivaceo nebulosum.
Male. Beak yellow clouded with olive ; throat and ear-coverts black ; chest, top of the head,
and the whole of the upper surface green ; the two middle feathers of the tail are green with
slight bronzy reflexions, the two next on each side are black, with their extreme outer
edges of the same colour as the two middle ones, the tips of the whole six being black ; the
three outer ones on each side are regularly barred with black and white on their outer
edges and slightly so on their inner ones, while their centres are black and their tips
white ; centre of the wings beautifully freckled with grey on a black ground ; primaries
black, with their extreme outer edges white ; under surface fine orange, separated from the
black of the throat by an obscure half band of white ; feet brown.
Remale. Head, throat, upper surface, and six middle tail-feathers brown, the latter slightly
tipped with black ; the remaining tail-feathers as in the male, but not so regularly barred ;
the centre of the wings freckled with brown on a black ground ; the primaries black
margined on the outer edges with white ; under surface orange, but less pure than in the
male.
Total length about 9 or 10 inches ; wing, 4±; tail, 6.
Male. Yellow-bellied Green Cuckoo. Edw., vol. 7 . pi. 331. p. 256.
Courucou aranga. LeVaill., Hist. Nat. des Couroucous, pi. 7. le mâle adult, pi. 8. la
jeune, et pl. 15. le mâle dicoloré.
Courucou aranga. Vieill., 2nd edit, du Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., tom. 8. p. 318.
Female. Courucou à queue rousse. Buff, vol. vi. p. 293. Pl. Enl. 736.
Trogon rifus. Lath., Ind. Ora., 1. 209. Gm. Linn. 1. 404.
Rufous Curucui. Lath., Gen. Hist., 2nd edit., vol. 3. p. 309. pi. 49.
F ig u r e s of both sexes of this species have graced the pages of many ornithological publications, in almost
every one of which it has been subjected to a different name. The female, from the dullness of her colouring
when compared with her gaily-attired mate, has, in most instances, been characterized as a distinct species;
and had not the illustrations of this bird been tolerably good, it would have been unsafe to have quoted so
many synonyms as are recorded above.
I am induced to believe that the Yellow-bellied Green Cuckoo of Edwards is identical with the male, while
the female is represented by Buffon in his Planches Enluminees under the title of Courucou a queue rousse;
it is also the Rufous Curucui of Dr. Latham.
In the splendid work of LeVaillant will be found figures of both the sexes under the name of Courucou
aranga, which name has been followed by Vieillot, who has figured the male in the second edition of his Nouveau
Dictionnaire d’Histoire Naturelle, under the scientific name of Trogon atricollis. Although this latter name
has not, perhaps, a strict claim to priority, yet in a case like the present, where the female has been described
as a distinct bird from the male, and as it appears doubtful whether the latter is identical with the old Trogon
viridis, I have thought it best to follow Vieillot in giving to this species the specific title which he has applied
to ity
Habitat, Guiana, Cayenne, and the banks of the Amazon.
The Plate represents both the male and female.