Troglodytidæ (trog lod i tide)

pl. [NL., on each side behind, there is only one carotid (sinistral), cæca are present, the oil-gland is nude, the pterylosis is somewhat pa erine, there are large aftershafts of the contour-feathers, and these feathers are peculiarly soft and of brilliant hues. The trogons inhabit the depths of the forest, and are both frugivorous and insectivorous. The African type of trogons is the genus Hapaloderma; the Oriental is Harpactes; the West Indian forms are Priotelus and Temnotrogon. The more numerous trogons making an entirely new excavation. The word troglodyte is rarely used except in translating from the cla ic authors, or in discu ions with regard to the nature of the people so denominated by them, or as applied to members of some prehistoric tribes, as those of the Mediterranean caves near Mentone, in Italy. Caves were nat ural places of refuge and residence in the early stages of man's development, and were very frequently thus occupied by various prehistoric races, as has been proved by explorations made in different parts of the world. These explorations have in numerous instances revealed the existence of human remains mingled with implements and ornaments made by the hand of man, together with the bones of living and extinct species of animals, the whole occurring in such a way as to prove beyond a doubt that they were contemporaneous. Several cla ic authors among whom are Hero dot us, Aristotle, Strabo, and Pliny -speak of the troglodytes, and give this name to cave dwellers in various rather vaguely designated regions. Cave-dwellers still live in a few places in the United States, as some of the Yavasupai Indians in caves in the side cañons of the Colorado river. Q. Are there still any troglodytes , or inhabitants of caves, and are they numerous? A. The district between Marsa Susa and Cyrene is full of caverns in the very heart of the mountains, into which whole families get by means of ropes; and many are born, live, and die, in these dens, without ever going out of them. W. H. Smyth, The Mediterranean, p. 497. Palæolithic man was unquestionably a true troglodyte , the caves which he is known to have inhabited being very J. Geikie , Prehistoric Europe, p. 19. numerous. IMG:content-0920.png:[blocks in formation] 4. In ornith., a wren of the genus Troglodytes or family Troglodytidæ. The term is a misnomer, since no wrens live in caves.