116. Harpactes Hodgsoni, Gould.
Gould, Monog. pl. 33 and 34 - Blyth, Cat. 396 - Horsf., Cat 1036 - T. erythrocephalus, Gould - Suda sohaghin (the male) and Cuchcuchia (the female) Beng. - Hammesha peeara, Hind, i. e., always thirsty . - Sakvor-pho., Lepch.
The Red-headed Trogon.
Descr. - Male, head, nape, back of neck, throat, and breast' rich, but dull, dark crimson; back, scapulars, rump, and upper tail-coverts, ferruginous-brown, brightest on the rump; the wing coverts and tertiaries are undulated black and white; the quills black, with the outer margin of the primaries whitish ; the two centre tail-feathers deep chesnut, with black tip, the next pair chesnut on the outer web, black on the inner web and at the tip ; the outer three very much graduated, black, with a broad white tip, and part of the outer web also white, nearly to the extent of two-thirds on the outermost feathers; lower parts from the breast rich scarlet; a narrow white line divides this from the crimson of the breast. The female differs in having the whole head, neck, breast and upper parts ferruginous-brown, lightest on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; lower parts light, crimson ; the lesser wing-coverts aud tertiaries finely undulated with black and brown.
Bill deep smalt-blue, blackish at the culm en and on the tip ; irides chesnut-brown ; orbitar skin deep lavender-blue; legs and feet pale lavender.
Length 13 inches; wing 6 ; extent 18 ; tail 7 1/2; bill at front 9/16-; tarsus 3/4.
This handsome Trogon is found in the Himalayas from Nepal eastwards, in Assam, Sylhet, Arrakan, and Tenasserim. It prefers hilly places at from 2,000 to 4,500 feet. At Darjeeling I found it chiefly about 4,000 feet, frequenting dark shaded valleys, and flying from tree to tree at no great elevation; or a few of them together keeping near the same spot, making sallies every now and then, and seizing insects on the wing. It feeds on coleopteran chiefly. Tickell, who lately observed it on the Tenasserim hills, about3,000 feet and upwards, says that it flies in small troops, is active and vociferous in the morning, solitary and quiet during the heat of the day. I had the eggs of this Trogon brought me at Darjeeling. They were said to have been taken from a hole in a tree ; they were two in number, white, and somewhat round. There was no nest, it was stated, only some soft scrapings of decayed wood. Several species, having a general resemblance in the mode of coloration to these Indian Trogons, are found in Burmah, Malacca, and the islands, viz., H. oreskios in Burmah, H. ka umba, H. Diardi, and H. rutilus, in Malacca and Sumatra, H. Reinwardtii in Java, and H. ardens in the Philippines.
There is only one species in Africa of rather small size ; and two distinct forms in South America, some of them of resplendent green and gold plumage, and with long scapulars, and plumes covering the tail, forming the genus Pharomacrus. The American Trogons are described by Swainson and Wallace as darting at a fruit with a loud whirr of their wings, seizing it dexterously on the wing, and returning to their original scat. Fam. Meropidae. Bee-eaters.
Bill lengthened, rather slender, slightly curved throughout, sharp-pointed; wing long and pointed; tail generally even, moderate or long, with the central feathers frequently elongated. The Bee-eaters form a group of beautiful birds peculiar to the warm regions of the old world, one or two extending in summer into the temperate parts. Green is the predominant colour of their plumage, varied with blue, yellow, and chesnut. They feed on insects, often on wasps and bees, and hence their common name in English and other European languages, and they always capture them in their air. They usually crush their insect-prey when they seize it, killing it at once, and thus do not get stung. Their flight is easy and graceful, and at times very rapid. They breed in holes, in banks of rivers chiefly. In India they are popularly known as Flycatchers.
They have a doubly emarginated sternum, a short heart-shaped tongue," a membranous stomach, short intestines, and caeca of the same dimensions as in the Cuculinae, &c. Their skin is remarkably thick.
Swainson joined the Bee-eaters and Rollers in one family; and in a system of classification where groups are formed of progressively larger dimensions, perhaps both these families, and the Motmots, might be included in one natural division, equivalent to the Kingfishers, Jaeamars, and Puff-birds, which some naturalists class together.
Gould, Monog. pl. 33 and 34 - Blyth, Cat. 396 - Horsf., Cat 1036 - T. erythrocephalus, Gould - Suda sohaghin (the male) and Cuchcuchia (the female) Beng. - Hammesha peeara, Hind, i. e., always thirsty . - Sakvor-pho., Lepch.
The Red-headed Trogon.
Descr. - Male, head, nape, back of neck, throat, and breast' rich, but dull, dark crimson; back, scapulars, rump, and upper tail-coverts, ferruginous-brown, brightest on the rump; the wing coverts and tertiaries are undulated black and white; the quills black, with the outer margin of the primaries whitish ; the two centre tail-feathers deep chesnut, with black tip, the next pair chesnut on the outer web, black on the inner web and at the tip ; the outer three very much graduated, black, with a broad white tip, and part of the outer web also white, nearly to the extent of two-thirds on the outermost feathers; lower parts from the breast rich scarlet; a narrow white line divides this from the crimson of the breast. The female differs in having the whole head, neck, breast and upper parts ferruginous-brown, lightest on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; lower parts light, crimson ; the lesser wing-coverts aud tertiaries finely undulated with black and brown.
Bill deep smalt-blue, blackish at the culm en and on the tip ; irides chesnut-brown ; orbitar skin deep lavender-blue; legs and feet pale lavender.
Length 13 inches; wing 6 ; extent 18 ; tail 7 1/2; bill at front 9/16-; tarsus 3/4.
This handsome Trogon is found in the Himalayas from Nepal eastwards, in Assam, Sylhet, Arrakan, and Tenasserim. It prefers hilly places at from 2,000 to 4,500 feet. At Darjeeling I found it chiefly about 4,000 feet, frequenting dark shaded valleys, and flying from tree to tree at no great elevation; or a few of them together keeping near the same spot, making sallies every now and then, and seizing insects on the wing. It feeds on coleopteran chiefly. Tickell, who lately observed it on the Tenasserim hills, about3,000 feet and upwards, says that it flies in small troops, is active and vociferous in the morning, solitary and quiet during the heat of the day. I had the eggs of this Trogon brought me at Darjeeling. They were said to have been taken from a hole in a tree ; they were two in number, white, and somewhat round. There was no nest, it was stated, only some soft scrapings of decayed wood. Several species, having a general resemblance in the mode of coloration to these Indian Trogons, are found in Burmah, Malacca, and the islands, viz., H. oreskios in Burmah, H. ka umba, H. Diardi, and H. rutilus, in Malacca and Sumatra, H. Reinwardtii in Java, and H. ardens in the Philippines.
There is only one species in Africa of rather small size ; and two distinct forms in South America, some of them of resplendent green and gold plumage, and with long scapulars, and plumes covering the tail, forming the genus Pharomacrus. The American Trogons are described by Swainson and Wallace as darting at a fruit with a loud whirr of their wings, seizing it dexterously on the wing, and returning to their original scat. Fam. Meropidae. Bee-eaters.
Bill lengthened, rather slender, slightly curved throughout, sharp-pointed; wing long and pointed; tail generally even, moderate or long, with the central feathers frequently elongated. The Bee-eaters form a group of beautiful birds peculiar to the warm regions of the old world, one or two extending in summer into the temperate parts. Green is the predominant colour of their plumage, varied with blue, yellow, and chesnut. They feed on insects, often on wasps and bees, and hence their common name in English and other European languages, and they always capture them in their air. They usually crush their insect-prey when they seize it, killing it at once, and thus do not get stung. Their flight is easy and graceful, and at times very rapid. They breed in holes, in banks of rivers chiefly. In India they are popularly known as Flycatchers.
They have a doubly emarginated sternum, a short heart-shaped tongue," a membranous stomach, short intestines, and caeca of the same dimensions as in the Cuculinae, &c. Their skin is remarkably thick.
Swainson joined the Bee-eaters and Rollers in one family; and in a system of classification where groups are formed of progressively larger dimensions, perhaps both these families, and the Motmots, might be included in one natural division, equivalent to the Kingfishers, Jaeamars, and Puff-birds, which some naturalists class together.
