te ye} nes Be ) bs | oo = Se wr Wwe BeOn Ya See ee 3 _v,.& ware | + Dow AO RPS ES Ky aA RN IUNVIITTNN - -_ | i‘ 7 m yal e HARPACTES FASCIATUS. Fasciated Trogon. Trogon fasciatus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat. tom. i. par. i Syn. vol. ii. p. 492.—Penn. Ind. Zool. Person pleniye Trogon Ceylonensis, Briss. Orn. 8vo, vol. ii. p. 91. ANGLE ENS pone in Proc. of Zool. Soc. part iv. p. 26.—Ib. Mon. of Troe pl. 31.—Gray and Mi of But vol: 1. p. 71, Trogon, sp. 1.—Jerdon, Mad. Journ. of Sci a “Al 933 ae Harpactes Malabaricus, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii, p. 337.—Ib. List of iad vecine, . 337.—Ib. Lis rds in fasciatus, Blyth, Drafts of a Fauna Indica (third tribe of the Picee ) Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 80. Kufni Churi, of some Hindoos. Kurna, of the Mahrattas. Kakerni Hukki, of the Canarese. Rantvan Kondea, of the Cingalese, Blyth. p. 405.—Lath. Ind. Orn. tom. i. p. 200.—Ib. Gen. Coll. Brit. Mus. part ii. p. 44. p. 8.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. THE island of Ceylon and the southern part of the Peninsula of India are the true habitat of the Harpactes fasciatus ; it there represents the H. Kaswnba of the opposite peninsula of Malacca. It has been long known to writers on natural history ; a description of it being included in Gmelin’s “ Systema Nature” and ‘ figure in Pennant’s “Indian Zoology,” published in 1790. It is, however, to more recent observers that we are indebted for the little that is even now known of its habits and economy. Mr. E. L. Layard informs me that in Ceylon ‘it inhabits the high tree-jungle which the natives call Mookoolaney ; it there frequents the summits of the loftiest trees, and feeds on spiders, Mantidze and Coleoptera; it sits across a branch with the head drawn down between the shoulders; it is by no means a solitary bird, being found in small parties of three or four in number, which always follow each other when one takes wing. It does not appear to extend its range beyond Kandy. Dr. Kelaart says it is sometimes very numerous at Newera Elia ; eS mo) Ce he likewise states that the Cingalese call it Ratwon Kondea, but the natives in the neighbourhood of the / localities in which I found it were ignorant of its existence and had no name fOnatiage So much for the bird in Ceylon. I now proceed to give the interesting note respecting it included in Mr. Jerdon’s “ Catalogue of the Birds of the Peninsula of India” :— “This very richly-plumaged Trogon is of rare occurrence in Southern India, and I have only found it in the densest portions of the jungle in Malabar and the Wynaad. It is usually seen seated motionless on the branch of a tree, occasionally flying off to capture an insect, and sometimes, though rarely, returning to the same perch, generally taking up a new position, and wandering much about from tree to tree. I almost airs, and on one occasion four or five were seen together. In The Hindodstanee name Koofnee }9 iy )“e ee _— — NS i, ae AG yt ae o =) ~ oo “ene always observed it solitary, occasionally in p the stomach I have always found fragments of large Coleopterous insects. chooree is given (says Mr. Elliott) ‘from the bird sitting with its head sunk in the shoulders, as if it had 9 e219) a a) a a no neck, or as if dressed in a faqueer’s koofnee. ae x Mr. Blyth remarks that this species is enumerated in Mr. Elliott’s ‘Catalogue of Birds inhabiting the South Mahratta country,” and no doubt it is the species obtained by Captain Tickell at Dampara in Dholbhim, which would give it an extensive range in the Indian peninsula. ; The male has the head, neck and breast sooty black, bounded below by a narrow crescent of white, I ° ° “ich carmine-r the under surface ; upper surface orange- separating the sooty black of the breast from the rich carmine red at ' i Bh ae ighter on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; wings black, é ars of white, and the primaries narrowly edged externally narrowly tipped with black, the next on each side wir) omy Oyo Cw Ce? i ok Ey a>, Cw CON), (ow a al i? f , FUT Us ry i Sef Ne oo brown, becoming paler and br secondaries crossed by numerous fine irregular b with the same hue; two centre tail-feathers chestnut, ing in a bi p ar tip of the chestnut. at the base and black at the tip, the chestnut advancing 1n a bifurcated form tow irds the P a black; the three lateral feathers on each side black at the base, ; the outer web; the next on each side entirely . ‘no on the margin of the outer web nearly to the base, and the z legs light blue. largely tipped with white, the white advanci 1 cleanness ae anines Ey in: If brown; bill and orbits 10 g ’ agate: the shaft to she ps a with a yellowish tinge on the chest ; the under The female differs in having the head and neck brown, eae ing : rown 10 . and the bars on the wings ochraceous CW) Ow surface rich ochraceous ; The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.