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115. :- Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 201 ; Butler, Deccan ; Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 381.

The Malabar Trogon.

Length, 12 ; expanse, 16 ; wing, 5 ; tail, 6 ; bill at front, 0.5; bill at gape, 1.

Bill deep blue; orbital skin smalt-blue ; irides dark-brown ; feet light lavender-blue.

Male, entire head and neck black; the rest of the upper plumage castaneous olive-brown; the lesser wing-coverts, tertiaries, and some of the secondaries finely streaked with black and white ; breast, belly and lower parts_fine crimson red ; the tail with the centre feathers the same color as the back but more chesnut; the lateral feathers black and white.

The female wants the black head and neck, which are con-colorous with the body; the tertiaries and coverts are finely banded black and brown, and the lower plumage is ochreous-yellow instead of red.

The Malabar Trogon occurs sparingly in the forest tracts of the Deccan and South Mahratta country, but does not occur in any other portion of the district.

Jerd., B. Ind. i. p. 201, No. 115; Hume, Str. F. vii. p. 507. Trogon Malabaricus, Gould, Monog. pl. 31. -

The Malabar Trogon.
 

Entire head and neck black; rest of the upper plumage castaneous olive-brown ; lesser wing coverts, tertiaries and some of the secondaries finely streaked with black and white ; breast, belly and lower parts fine crimson red; tail with the centre feathers more chestnut than the back; rest black and white. The female has the head and neck of the same colour as the body, and the wing coverts and tertiaries are finely banded black and brown; lower plumage ochreous yellow. Bill deep blue ; orbital skin smalt blue : irides dark brown ; feet light lavender-blue. (Jerd.)

Length. - 12 inches; tail 6; wing 5; tarsus 0.6; bill at front 0.5; at gape 1.0.

Hab. - Malabar, Central India and Ceylon. Found in the forests of Malabar from the extreme south to about N. lat. 170, reaching up the ghauts and hill ranges to at least 3,000 feet. Jerdon adds that it prefers the more elevated situations, and keeps to the thickest parts of the woods. It is usually solitary, and sometimes in pairs. Layard says it is found in small parties of three or four and feeds on various insects.

The Malabar Trogon.

Trogon fasciatus, Pennant, Ind. Zool. pl. iv (1769). Trogon duvaucelii, Tickell, J. A. S. B. ii, p. 580 (nec Temm.). Trogon malabaricus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1834, p. 26. Harpactes malabaricus, Swains. Class. Birds, ii, p. 337 ; Jerdon, Madr. Jour. L. S. xi, p. 232. Harpactes fasciatus, Blyth, Cat. p. 80; Layard, A. M. N. H. (2) xii, p. 171; Horsf. & M. Cat. ii, p. 714; Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 201; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 422; Hume, S. F. i, p. 432; vii, p. 507; id. Cat. no. 116; Ball, S. F. iv, p. 231 ; v, p. 413; vii, p. 203; Fairbank, S. F. iv, p. 254; v, p. 393; Bourdillon, S. F. iv, p. 382; vii, p. 172; Thompson, S. F. iv, p. 498; Legge, Birds Ceyl. p. 269; Butler, S. F. ix, p. 381; Davison, S. F. x, p. 349; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 93 ; Oates in Hume's N. & E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 340; Ogilvie Grant, Cat. B. M. xvii, p. 485.

Kufni churi, H.; Kama, Mahr.; Kakarne hakki, Can.; Nawa nila kurulla, Ranwan kondea, Ginni kurulla, Cing.

Coloration. Male. Head and neck all round with upper breast dull black or blackish grey; back, scapulars, and coverts along forearm yellowish brown, slightly paler on the rump and upper tail-coverts; wings black, the coverts away from the forearm, except the greater primary-coverts, tertiaries, and outer webs of secondaries, finely and closely barred with slightly undulating white lines; the quills white at the base, and the outer webs of all primaries, except the first and a few of the last, with a white border; middle tail-feathers chestnut with a black tip, the remainder black, generally some chestnut on second and third pairs from middle, three exterior pairs with long white tips; a white band between the black upper breast and the rest of the lower parts, which are pale crimson, the lower tail-coverts paler still.

Female. Head, neck, and upper breast olive-brown, no white gorget; rest of lower parts brownish buff ; bars on wing-coverts, tertiaries, and secondaries light brown, instead of white; tail-feathers as in immature males.

Young males have the lower parts mixed with buff and white, the bars on the wings are fulvous, and the head and neck brownish. The 2nd and 3rd pairs of tail-feathers from the middle have more chestnut than in adults, this colour extending along the shafts and both borders.

Bill deep blue; orbital skin smalt-blue; irides dark brown; feet light lavender-blue (Jerdon).

Length 12; tail 6.75; wing 5; tarsus .6; bill from gape 1: females rather less. Ceylonese birds are smaller than Indian.

Distribution. Local and rare throughout the forest country east of about 80° long., extending from Hazaribagh and Midnapur to south of the Godavari ; more common in the forests near the Malabar coast, from Western Khandesh (whence both Lord Tweed-dale and Mr. Hume obtained specimens) to Cape Comorin. This species does not occur in any part of the peninsula beyond the tracts mentioned, but is found generally distributed in Ceylon.

Habits, &c. Those of the genus. The eggs have been taken in March, April, and May, and are usually three in number, ivory white, and about 1.08 by .95 in dimensions.

The Ceylon Trogon.

Trogon fasciatus Pennant, Ind. Zool., pl. iv (1769) (Ceylon). Harpactes fasciatus. Blanf. & Oates. iii, p. 199 (part).

Vernacular names. Nawa nila kurulla, Ranvan kondea, Ginni Kurulla (Cing.).

Description. - Male. Head, neck and extreme upper breast grey, darkest on the crown; back, rump, upper tail-coverts, scapulars and wing-coverts on the shoulder yellowish-brown, paler and brightest on the upper tail-coverts and rump ; central tail-feathers chestnut, tipped black; the next two pairs all black except; for a little chestnut near the basal shafts; outer pairs black, the terminal halves diagonally white; wing-coverts and innermost secondaries blackish with fine wavy bars of white; greater primary coverts less barred, or all black; primaries black with whitish edges; a white pectoral collar below the grey upper breast; remainder of lower plumage crimson, a little paler on the abdomen, vent and under tail-coverts.

Colours of soft parts. Iris dark brown; orbital skin smalt-blue; bill deep blue, the tip and culmen darker ; legs and feet lavender-blue.

Measurements. Wing 118 to 123mm.; tail 139 to 149 mm.; tarsus about 13 to 14 mm. ; culmen about 16 to 17 mm.

Young males gradually assume the plumage of the adult, the grey head first appears and then crimson feathers in the orange-brown underparts; the central tail-feathers are wholly black and the next two pairs have much chestnut on the outer webs.

Distribution. Ceylon only.

Nidification. Unknown.

Habits. Apparently quite similar to those of the next and better-known form. According to Wait it occurs in high forest all over the island of Ceylon.

The Malabar Trogon.

Troy on malabaricus Gould, P. Z. S., 1834, p. 26 ( Malabar coast). Harpactes fasciatus. Blanf. & Oates, iii, p. 199 (part).

Vernacular names. Kvfni churi (Hind.); Kama (Mahr.); Kakarne hakki (Can.).

Description. Differs from the typical Ceylon form in having a much darker head, neck and upper breast, these parts being black or nearly so with merely a brown tinge. The females do not appear to bo quite so bright a colour above.

Colours of soft parts as in the Ceylon Trogon.

Measurements. Wing 125 to 134 mm.; tail 154 to 170 mm.; tarsus about 13 to 14 mm.; culmen about 16 to 17 mm.

Distribution. Travancore, the Malabar and South Bombay Presidency coasts East to the hill ranges of Mysore etc. It has also been recorded from Chota Nagpore and Midnapore in Western Bengal and thence South to the mouths of the Godavery.

Nidification. The Malabar Trogon breeds commonly in Travancore and less commonly in the more Northern parts of its distribution. The eggs, which number two to four, are deposited in natural hollows in dead trees or stumps at any height from the ground but, as a rule, under twenty feet. No nest is made and no lining other than the rotten wood or, maybe, a few wind-blown scraps of leaves etc. The hollow selected is often a large one with a large entrance and occasionally eggs may be found in very exposed hollows. Both sexes assist in incubation. The eggs are a pale buff or cafe-au-lait, some so pale as to appear white unless placed alongside some really white object. Thirty eggs, mostly taken by Stewart, average 26.7 x 23.4 mm.: maxima 28.0 x 24.0 and 27.4 x 25.0 mm.; minima 24.2 x 22.7 and 26.2 x 22.2 mm. In shape they are very spherical and the texture is hard and close with a fine gloss.

Habits. Ferguson describes this Trogon as a shy, retiring bird, keeping to thick jungle but whose presence is often betrayed by its mewing call. It is found from 1,000 feet upwards and sometimes, though but rarely, in the plains' forests. It feeds much on coleoptera, cicadas and other hard morsels, capturing them for the most part on the wing, scrunching them with its powerful bill and swallowing them, hardest and softest portions together.

Harpactes fasciatus fasciatus Pennant.

 

Trogon fasciata Pennant, Ind. Zool., pi. iv, 1769: Ceylon.

Trogon malabaricus Gould, P. Z. S., 1834, p. 26, June 9 : Malabar Coast.