: . : i were ° is lh ora h - an ae 5
Thus much excepting the synonymy, was said In the first edition of this Monogr pos < d I really have
’ e ‘ - o

not much more to add, further than that my figures are made from Trinidad specimens. In order to throw
> e O

= F c ae PAAR reals ‘2
as much light as possible on this somewhat intricate subject I have availed myself of Mr. Salvin’s
g ‘ ss

experience, which is embodied in the following note :— ee io tthe Te
‘The first point to look to in determining a member of this very difficult section of the rogonide is to

: > oo oc : yc qpl ° . i
see if the crown of the head is ddack or blue. If the former, the bird doubtless belongs to 7. caligatus, i. e.

the caligatus of the second edition of this work. id
dionalis, to T. ramonianus, or to a race closely aliied to one or other of these birds—the difference between
3 ¢. ? iy

If the head is blue the bird belongs either to 7. meri-

the two named being further shown by the wing-coverts of the former being mottled grey and black, while
in the latter these are almost wholly black. It is not always possible to distinguish birds belonging to the
blue-headed group with certainty, as not unfrequently specimens occur which have he wine only
slightly mottled, thus showing that indications are not a’ to ae that 7°: meridionalis and
T. ramonianus gradually merge into one another. This fact determined Mr. Sclater and myself to place
both under the name 7. meridionalis in our ‘ Nomenclator Avium Neotropicalium.’

“To Trogon meridionalis the name T. violaceus of Gmelin has been applied by several authors ; but this
is a point I think that can never be satisfactorily determined ; and as Gmelin’s name is introduced with a
description so manifestly inaccurate, for instance where he speaks of its yellow eyebrows! the selection
of the first name, about which there can be no doubt, is by far the preferable plan to be adopted. This
undoubtedly is Swainson’s title bestowed upon this bird in 1838. It has been suggested (Mon. Trog.
ed. 1, t. 9) that Spix’s name 7% su/phureus might be intended for this species; and so far as the female is
concerned I am inclined to think this may be so; but the male, I have less doubt, belongs to 7. atricollis; so
that the name 7. sudphureus had best be dismissed also.

‘‘ Swainson’s bird, which is still extant in the museum of the University of Cambridge, is said to have
been obtained in the Bahama Islands by Mr. Lees. This locality is doubtless incorrect, as is also shown by
other birds described by Swainson from Mr. Lees’s collection, and there is every reason to suppose that the
specimen really came from Trinidad or Venezuela.

Most unfortunately for the puzzling synonymy of this group of Trogons, Messrs. Cabanis and Heine did
not consult the first Part of this edition of the ‘Trogonide’ when compiling their account of the family in
the fourth part of the ‘Museum Heineanum ; its existence was doubtless unknown to them. They would
probably have been saved the attempt made to fix the name calizatus to a blue-headed bird from Cartagena,
and also the description of the true 7” calgatus of Central America under the new name of Aganus braccatus.
Other species of this form are described by the same authors, the validity of which I have no means of
testing beyond the published descriptions. These are :—Aoanus lepidus, from Ecuador, which appears to
me more likely to be 7. caligatus than any thing else ; Aganus crissalis, from Bahia, whence I have never
yet seen specimens (this bird is described as having a blue head); Aganus devillii, based upon a description
by MM. Deville and Des Murs of a bird from Santa Maria, on the Upper Amazons, and supposed by them
to be Trogon meridionalis of Swainson. Further research will be necessary to establish these supposed
species.

“To M. Léotaud we are indebted for a knowledge of the habits of this bird, as observed by him in the
island of Trinidad. He says it leads the same kind of life as 7” viridis.”

n Me eee : a1) re a = eee :
The figures in the accompanying Plate are life-size, and from Trinidad specimens.