The KARNA, or MALABAR TROGON (_Harpactes fasciatus_), a well-known
species, is of a chestnut-brown on the upper portion of the body, and
black on the head and throat; the feathers of the wing-covers are striped
black and white, while the breast and entire under side are of a vivid
scarlet; the black throat is divided from the breast by a narrow white
band; a line from the back of the eyes to the head is bright red, and a
bare patch round the eye of a blueish shade; the centre tail-feathers are
reddish brown, and those at the exterior black and white; the eye is dark
brown, the beak deep blue, and the foot of a purplish hue. The female
is without the black upon the head; her upper secondary quills and the
feathers on the wing-covers are black and brown, and her entire under side
ochre-yellow. The length of this species is twelve and its breadth sixteen
inches; the wing measures five and the tail six inches.
The Malabar Trogon, as we learn from Jerdon, "is found in the forests of
Malabar, from the extreme south to about seventeen degrees north latitude,
reaching up the Ghâts and hill ranges at least 3,000 feet. It is also
found in some of the forests of Central India and in Ceylon. It, however,
usually prefers the more elevated situations, at about 2,000 feet or so,
and keeps generally to the thickest parts of the wood. It is often to be
seen seated motionless on a tree, occasionally flying off to capture an
insect on the wing, sometimes returning to the same perch, but oftener
taking up a fresh position, and in this way wandering about a good deal.
It is usually solitary, sometimes in pairs, and I have seen four or five
together. Its food consists of insects, chiefly coleopterous. I am not
aware of having heard its note, and certainly have found it generally a
silent bird. Trikell, however, says it has a wild, querulous note, like
the mewing of a cat. Its Hindustani name is given from its sitting with
the head sunk into its shoulders, as if it had no head, or as if dressed
in a faquir's _kufui_."
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The FLOWER TOURACOS (_Hapaloderma_) are distinguished from the above birds
by the incised margins of their beaks, and the slenderness of the short,
exterior tail-feathers.