TROGON R E INWA R D T I I , Temm.
Reinwardt’s Trogon.
S p e c i f ic C h a r a c t e r .
Trog. capite, dorso, tectricibusque caudce superioribus saturate viridibus; alis in medio scapu-
laribusque Jlavo transversim lineatis; remigibus nigris, pogoniis extemis albis; gutture Jlavo ;
auribus, colli lateribus, pectoreque olivaceo-brunneis; ventre Jlavo ad latera aurantiaco;
rectricibus ccerulescenti-atris iridescentibus, tribus extemis utrinque apicem versus albis.
Rostrum aurantiaco-rubrum; regio ophthalmica nuda ceerulea ; tarsi Jlavi.
Bill bright reddish orange ; top of the head, back, and upper tail-coverts dark green ;
six middle tail-feathers bluish black with green reflexions; the bases of the three outer
feathers on each side the same colour as the middle ones, the remaining portions being-
white; centre of the wings and shoulders green, transversely rayed with fine lines of
yellow; primaries black, with the exception of the outermost web, which is white; throat
yellow; ear-coverts, sides of the neck, and chest olive brown; belly and under surface
yellow, becoming rich orange on the sides; tarsi yellow; bare skin round the eye blue.
Total length from 124 to 134 inches; tail, 74; wing, 54.
Trogon Reinwardtii. Temm., PI. Col. 124.
F rom the circumstance of the present bird and the Trogon narina of Southern Africa being the only species
yet discovered in the Old World possessing a green plumage, it would appear that they approximate more
nearly to the American Trogons, in which this feature is so conspicuous, than do any of their congeners,
though at the same time they possess characters which readily distinguish them, viz. the absence of serra-
tures along the edges of the bill and of bars on the tail.
The native habitat of this species are Java and Sumatra, where it was discovered by Professor Reinwardt,
that truly worthy and justly celebrated naturalist, whose exertions have added so much to the stores of science,
and after whom it has been named.
The' Trogon Reinwardtii offers a singularity to our notice in the great similitude of the plumage of the sexes,
the female possessing the same characteristic markings as the male, from whom she differs only in having the
colours more obscure, and by the rich orange of the throat and flanks giving place to a pale yellow.
I am highly indebted to my valued friend M. Temminek for an example of the young of this species, a
figure of which is given in the accompanying Plate; and which, as illustrating the change which the present
species undergoes from youth to maturity, will not be uninteresting to the ornithologist. It will be seen that
although in this immature state, it exhibits a similarity to the adult, particularly in the colours of the back and
tail, a circumstance which rarely occurs in the family, as in all the Trogons where the plumage of the female
differs much from that of the male, the young birds generally resemble, the former; while, as in the present
case, where the sexes are nearly alike, the young partake of the adult colouring, differing only in the markings
of the wings and the rufous brown tint of the breast.
That the Trogon Reinwardtii should rarely occur in collections is a fact which may probably be accounted
for by the circumstance of its appearing to be very local in its habitat. The vast collections brought to this
country by Sir T. Stamford Raffles and Dr. Horsfield did not contain an example.
The Plate represents an adult male and a young bird of the natural size.