460 MOMOTID£. 
B. Pileus castaneus. 
4, Momotus mexicanus. 
Momotus mexicanus, Swains. Phil. Mag. new ser. i. p. 442 (1827); Zool. Ill. ser. 2, i. t. 81’; 
Scl. P. Z.S. 1857, p. 253°; 1859, p. 887°; 1860, p. 252 >; Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. 
ii. p. 289°; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 4, p. 297; Sumichrast, La Nat. v. p. 239°; Salv. 
Cat. Strickl. Coll. p. 413°; P. Z. S. 1883, p. 426°; Ferrari-Perez, Pr. U.S. Nat. Mus. ix. 
p. 160"; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xvii. p. 328”. 
Crybelus mexicanus, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. ii. p. 112”. 
Prionites mexicanus, Wag). Isis, 1831, p. 528”. 
Momotus martii, Jard. & Selby, Ill. Orn. i. t. 23”. 
Supra olivaceo-virescens, capite summo toto castaneo, cervice postica quoque castanea ad dorsi colorem insensim 
transeunte ; loris et regione suboculari cum tectricibus elongatis auricularibus nigris, his supra et subtus 
intense violaceis, macula in regione malari quoque violacea: subtus virescentior, gula ceruleo lavata, 
abdomine imo albicante, macula pectorali nigra; alis extus et cauda cerulescentibus, hujus rectricibus 
duabus mediis nigro terminatis, remigibus intus ad basin et subalaribus pallide cinnamomeis; rostro 
nigro; pedibus corylinis. Long. tota 14-0, ale 4-9, caude rectr. med. 7°5, rectr. lat. 1°95, rostri a rictu 
1°75, tarsi 1:05. (Descr. maris ex Tonala, Chiapas. Mus. nostr.) 
© mari similis. 
Hab. Muxico (Wagler', Galeotti ®), Mazatlan ® (Grayson, Xantus, Bischoff), Presidio 
de Mazatlan (Forrer), Santiago and San Blas in the Territory of Tepic, Bolafos 
(W. B. Richardson), Plains of Colima (Xantus®, W. B. Richardson), Colima, 
Beltran and Tonila in Jalisco (W. Lloyd), Temiscaltepec (Bullock 1), Cuernavaca 
(le Strange), Chietla (Ferrari-Perez), Amula, Rincon, and Chilpancingo in 
Guerrero (Mrs. H. H. Smith), Acapulco (A. H. Markham), Rio Grande 
(Boucard*), Lucapa (Mus. Liverp.*), Golan (Delattre*), Quicatlan (Deppe®), 
Sola in Oaxaca (M. Trujillo), Chihuitan’, Santa Efigenia’§, Barrio’, 
Los Cues’, Tonala’, Tapanatepec® (Sumichrast), ‘Tehuantepec ® (Sumichrast, 
W. B. Richardson). 
Momotus mexicanus is restricted in its range to Western Mexico, where it is found 
from Mazatlan to Tehuantepec, and is apparently by no means a rare species in that 
region. Grayson says® that it frequents the darkest woods of the Tierra Caliente, 
breeding in the ground like the Kingfishers, and laying three or four clear white eggs. 
He adds that it is a constant resident in the neighbourhood of Mazatlan and quite 
common at Tehuantepec. It subsists chiefly on insects. 
Besides frequenting the lowlands bordering the Pacific Ocean, this species is found 
some distance in the interior, and has been recorded from Temiscaltepec, where 
Swainson’s original specimen came from}, and also from Cuernavaca and Chietla 14, 
places on the slope of the Cordillera at some elevation above sea-level. 
Though found by all collectors who have visited Western Mexico, hardly any notice 
has been taken of the habits of this species. Sumichrast states that the iris is red, the 
bill black, the base of the mandible whitish horn-colour, and the feet dull cinereous 7. 
