TROGON NEOXENUS , Gould.
Welcome Trog'on.
(Young Male.)
Mas. j un. Trog. capite, collo, pectore Jemoribusque cineraceojuscis ; plumis dorsi, uropygiique,
tectricibus alee, superioribusque caudee, ad basin Juscis, ad apicem metallici viridibus ; alis
Juscis, primariis ad basin extùs albo marginatis ; caudà metallici ccerulea, pectricibtis
utrinque tribus externis ad apicem large albis ; abdomine crissoque splendidi coccineis ; rostro
plumbeo ; pedibus Juscis.
Head, neck, breast and thighs greyish brown ; all the feathers of the back, rump, upper tail-
and wing-coverts brown at the base, and deep shining metallic green at the extremity;
wings brown, the primaries margined on the base of the exterior web with greyish white ;
tail deep metallic blue, the three lateral feathers; on each side largely tipped with white ;
abdomen and under tail-coverts rich scarlet; bill lead colour ; feet brown.
Total length, 1S± inches; bill, 1 ; wing, 7£; tail, 8 ; tarsi, b
Trogon neoxenus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. Part VI., 1838.
I h a v e seldom been more gratiiied by the sight of any species of this beautiful family than I was on the
receipt of the bird figured in the accompanying Plate, which exhibits characters of the highest interest,
although the specimen (the only one I have seen) is evidently in a state of immaturity. Judging from analogy,
I should conceive that it is the young male of an aberrant species of that splendid minor group, to which
the sub-generic name of Calurus has been applied; and that the adult, which is at present unknown, will,
whenever it is discovered, prove to be a bird of very great beauty. The individual represented was received
from Mexico by John Taylor, Esq., by whom it was presented to the Zoological Society of London.
The difficulty of assigning a specific name to any species of which the young only has been seen, has
induced me to propose that of neoxenus (welcome stranger) for the present bird, adult examples of which
will be sought for with the highest interest by every ornithologist.