TB -O i&ON M M jL A N O F T E R T I ia «iSwains )
Biadi- winged Trogoli.
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TROGON MELANOPTERl J S, Swains.
Black-winced Trogon.
S p e c if ic C h a r a c t e r .
Mas. Trog. capite suprà gutiureque violaceo purpuréis ; auribus gulàqtte nigris ; dorso ttropy-
gioque metallici viridibus i cauda: tectricibus super tori bus purpuréis; rectricibm duabus in-
termediis viridibm purpuro tinctis, proximis duabus utrinque pogoniis, extends vtf¿descent i-
purpureis interni* nigris, kts omnibus mgro apiculatis, cceteris ad basin ni gru. ad apicem
albis ; alis nigris ; ventre tmtricibusque cauda inferioribus aurantiaco-jlavis.
Irides sataraté brunnese; rostrum comilescenti-cinereum, apicem versus subflavesceos ; pedes
coerulescenti-cinerei.
Foem. Suprà et ad pectus saturate plumbeo-cinereus ; alis brunnescenti-nigris, secundar iis scqpu-
laribusque albo transversim strigatis ; rectricibus brunnescenti-nigris, ex timar urn utrinque
trium apicibusJasciaque pog<m*¡ mtem; (dw*.
Rostrum quàra in mare saturatine
Male. Bill bluish grey 1# y vidm &. the ti?>. i-vm.«« >4 ifon Wad and cfeefe? rich violet
purple, throat and \i*r(v black : back >«•; tom p rw b gr$en; upper tail-
<•0verts purple ; two íniÉdfe i#ii feathers green with a tinge of purple, two «ext on each
side black on the inner web, «<:«! greenish purple on the outer, the whole six tipped with
black; the three outer feathers on each side black at their base and white at their tips;
wings black ; abdomen and under tail-coverts rich orange yellow ; feet bluish grey ; irides
dárk brown.
Remale. Bill as in the male but darker ; bead, chest, and all the upper surface deep leaden
grey; wings brownish black; secondaries and scapularies transversely striated with fine
lines of white ; abdomen and under tail-coverts orange ; six middle tail-feathers brownish
black, the three outer on each side the same, but tipped with white- and having bars of the
same colour on their inner webs.
Total length, 10f to 11+ inches ; bill, 1+ ; wing, 5+ to 5+ ; tail, 6+ ; tarsi, +.
Trogm vmlocens, vi
A l th o u g h I myself entertain no doubt that rbe Tr>>g. mtacrus, Trog. m id is , and Trog. curucui of different
authors all refer to this bird, still the descriptions are so imperfect as to defy all attempts to assign it with
any degree of certainty to either of them ; and in consequence of this intolerable confusion I am induced to
adopt Mr. Swainson’s name of melanopterus for this common and well-known species.
The Trogon melanopterus appears to have a more extensive range than most other species, as it is dispersed,
although hut. sparingly, through a great portion of the Brazils, and several of the West India Islands adjacent
to the continent: 1 would remark, however, that the bird foe ¡id in the islands is somewhat more diminutive
in all its proportions than those from the continent, vet in «very other particular they so wiki ugly accord as,
in my opinion, to render their separation vmsttdttmsity.
This species gives a preference to dense and «fewest tfHpcnettnble forests, and like the other members of its
race is solitary and unsocial in its habits. The nmy tie distinguished from all others by its large size
and by the rich violet colour of its head and chest female is more sombre in her cokwwrnig, those parts
being of a dusky grey which in the male are reqdewfeat green and violet. The young «sir during the first
year resembles the female; and I have frequently observed that while undergoing the changes from youth to
maturity, it exhibits a blending of the colouring of the mature male with that of the female, assuming the rich
colouring of the head and back, without having exchanged either the whole or any portion of the barred tail-
feather* ; hence, no doubt, has arisen the confusion among the older authors with respect to this bird, in
consequence of their not being acquainted with its immature changes.
In the stomachs of some specimens of this bird which M. Natterer examined, were found the remains of
fruit, and an insect nearly allied to Mantis.