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QUEZAL, or QUESAL

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 747 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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QUEZAL, or QUESAL

QUEZAL, or QUESAL , the See also:

SPANISH

Spanish-See also:

AMERICAN

American name for one of the most beautiful of birds, abbreviated from the Aztec or See also:

MAYA

Maya Quetzal-tototl, the last See also:

PART

part of the See also:

compound word meaning See also:

FOWL (Dan. Fugl, Ger. Vogel)

fowl, and the first, also written Cuetzal, the See also:

long feathers of See also:

rich See also:

green with which it is adorned). The Quezal is one of the Trogons (q.v.), and was originally described by Hernandez (Historic, p. 13), whose See also:

account was faithfully copied by F. See also:

WILLUGHBY, FRANCIS (1635—1672)

Willughby. Yet the See also:

BIRD

bird remained practically unknown to ornithologists until figured in 1825, from a specimen belonging to Leadbeater,2 by C. J. Temminck (Pl. See also:

col., 372), who, however, mistakenly thought it was the same as the See also:

TROGON

Trogon pavoninus, a congeneric but quite distinct See also:

SPECIES

species from See also:

Brazil, that had just been described by Spix. The scientific determination of the Quetzal-bird of Central See also:

AMERICA

America seems to have been first made by C. L. See also:

BONAPARTE

Bonaparte in 1826, as Trogon paradiseus, according to his statement in the Zoological Society's Proceedings 1 The Mexican deity Quetzal-coatl had his name, generally translated " Feathered Snake," from the quetzal, See also:

FEATHER (0. Eng. (ether, Ger. Feder, from an Indo-European root seen also in Gr. lrrepov, and aEreo-Oat, to fly)

feather or bird, and See also:

COATI

coati, snake, as also certain See also:

KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

kings or chiefs, and many places, e.g. Quezalapan, Quezaltepec, and See also:

QUEZALTENANGO

Quezaltenango, though perhaps some of the last were named directly from the personages (cf. See also:

Bancroft, Native Races of the Pacific States, vol. v., See also:

INDEX

Index).

Quetzalitzli is said to be the See also:

EMERALD

emerald. 2 This specimen had been given to See also:

Canning (a See also:

TRIBUTE (Lat. tributurn, a stated payment, contribution)

tribute, perhaps, to the statesman who boasted that he had " called a New See also:

WORLD

World into existence to redress the See also:

BALANCE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. bilantia, an apparatus for weighing, from bi, two, and lanx, a dish or scale)

balance of the Old ") by Mr Schenley, a diplomatist, and was then thought to be unique in See also:

EUROPE

Europe; but, apart from those which had reached See also:

Spain, where they See also:

lay neglected and undescribed, See also:

James See also:

Wilson says (Illustr. See also:

ZOOLOGY (from Gr. Nov, a living thing, and ?byos, theory)

Zoology, pl. vi. See also:

TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text) that others were brought with it, and that one of them was given to the See also:

EDINBURGH

Edinburgh Museum. On the 21st See also:

day of the See also:

sale of See also:

BULLOCK, WILLIAM (c. 1657-c. 1740)

Bullock's Museum in 1819, See also:

Lot 38 is entered in the See also:

CATALOGUE (a Fr. adaptation of the Gr. KaraXoyos, a register, from Karalyety, to enrol or pick out)

Catalogue as " The Tail Feather of a magnificent undescribed Trogon," and probably belonged to this species.for 1837 (p. 101); but it is not known whether the fact was ever published. In 1832 the Registro Trimestre, a See also:

LITERARY

literary and scientific See also:

journal printed at See also:

Mexico, contained a communication by Dr. Pablo de la Llave, describing this species (with which he first became acquainted before 181o, from examining more than a dozen specimens obtained by the natural-See also:

HISTORY

history expedition to New Spain and kept in the See also:

PALACE (Lat. Palatium, the name given by Augustus to his residence on the Palatine Hill)

palace of the Retiro near See also:

MADRID

Madrid) under the name by which it is now known, Pharomacrus mocino 3 Quezal, male and See also:

FEMALE

female. These facts, however, being almost unknown to the See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest. of the world, J. See also:

Gould, in the Zoological Proceedings for 1835 (p. 29), while pointing out Temminck's See also:

ERROR (Lat. error, from errare, to wander, to err)

error, gave the species the name of Trogon resplendens, which it See also:

BORE

bore for some See also:

time. Yet little or nothing was generally known about the bird until Delattre sent an account of his See also:

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemot)

meeting with it to the See also:

ECHO (Gr. I'Xw)

Echo du monde savant for 1843, which was reprinted in the Revue zoologique for that.See also:

YEAR

year (pp. 163-165).

In 186o the See also:

NIDIFICATION (from Lat. nidus)

nidification of the species, about which See also:

STRANGE, SIR ROBERT (1721-1792)

strange stories had been told to the naturalist last named, was determined, and its eggs, of a See also:

PALE (through Fr. pal, from Lat. palms, a stake, for paglus, from the stem pag- of pangere, to fix; " pole " is from the same original source)

pale a De la Llave's very rare and interesting memoir was reprinted by M. Salle in the Revue et magazin de zoologie for 1861 (pp. 23-33). bluish-green, were procured by See also:

Robert See also:

Owen (P. Z. S., r86o, p. 374; See also:

IBIS

Ibis, 1861, p. 66, pl. ii. fig. 1); while further and See also:

fuller details of its habits were made known by O. Salvin (Ibis, 1861, pp. 138—149), from his own observation of this very See also:

LOCAL

local and remarkable species. Its See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief See also:

home is in the mountains near See also:

COBAN, or SANTO DOMINGO DE COBAN

Coban in See also:

VERA, AUGUSTO (1813-1885)

Vera Paz, but it also inhabits forests in other parts of See also:

Guatemala at an See also:

ELEVATION

elevation of from 6000 to 9000 ft.

The Quezal is hardly so big as a Turtle-See also:

Dove. The See also:

COCK, EDWARD (1805-1892)

cock has a See also:

FINE

fine yellow See also:

BILL

bill and a See also:

head bearing a rounded See also:

crest of filamentous feathers; lanceolate scapulars overhang the wings, and from the rump See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring the long flowing plumes which are so characteristic of the species, and were so highly prized by the natives before the Spanish See also:

CONQUEST

conquest that no one was allowed to kill the bird when taken, but only to divest it of its feathers, which were to be worn by the chiefs alone. These plumes, the See also:

MIDDLE

middle and longest of which may measure from 3 ft. to 31 ft., with the upper See also:

SURFACE

surface, the See also:

THROAT (O. Eng. protu, prote or }Prota, possibly from preotan, to press, whence threat, or, with loss of initial s, connected with strut, to swell)

throat, and See also:

CHEST (Gr. Kiarl, Lat. cista, O. Eng. cist, test, &c.)

chest, are of a resplendent See also:

GOLDEN

golden-green,' while the See also:

LOWER

lower parts are of a vivid See also:

SCARLET

scarlet. The middle feathers of the tail, ordinarily concealed, as are those of the See also:

Peacock, by the uropygials, are See also:

black, and the See also:

OUTER

outer See also:

white with a black See also:

BASE

base. In the See also:

hen the bill is black, the crest more See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round and not filamentous, the uropygials scarcely elongated, and the vent only scarlet. The eyes are of a yellowish-See also:

brown. See also:

SOUTHERN

Southern examples from See also:

Costa Rica and Veragua have the tail-coverts much narrower, and have been considered to See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form a distinct species, P. costaricensis. Among other species are P. antisianus, P. fulgidus, P. auriceps and P. pavoninus, from various parts of See also:

South America, but though all are beautiful birds, none possess the wonderful singularity of the quezal. (A.

End of Article: QUEZAL, or QUESAL

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