388 Dr. J. Murie on the Motmots and their Affinities. 



Banjphonus ruficajnllus, and others the names levaillantii, dom- 

 heyeanus, domheyi, tutu, and rubricapilhcs. Dr. Sclater"^ at one 

 time held that the Motmot doinbe was doubtfully referable to 

 Momotus cyanogaster, founded by Vieillot on the "Tutu" of Azara; 

 but at a later datef he followed Dr. Cabanis J in calling the bird 

 Baryphtheyigus ruficapillus. 



I mention this circumstance because of my having received, 

 through the kindness of Mr. 0. Salvin, a skeleton labelled by 

 him as belonging to Momotus [Baryphthengus) ruficapillus, from 

 Rio Janeiro, the name of which is therefore authenticated by the 

 last-mentioned ornithologist. I shall institute a comparison of 

 this reputed genus with those treated of in the last sections and 

 Eumomota, to see if the bones bear out the differential value 

 assigned to it by slight variation in the feathering, viz. 10 rec- 

 trices, the middle non-spatulate. 



The vertebrae, taken regionally, are : — cervical 13 ; dorsal 6 ; 

 lumbo-sacral 11 or 12; caudal 7; equivalent to a total of 37 

 or 38. 



There are 7 ribs on either side, the hindmost pair being truly 

 lumbar ones. Besides these well-developed costse I also ob- 

 served a pair of rudimentary ribs (or riblets) in connexion with 

 the last neck-vertebrse. Spinal column and ribs appear in num- 

 bers, &c., to resemble those of Eumomota. 



To compensate for having only figured a portion of the base 

 of the skull (PI. XV. fig. 44) I may note a few of its ad- 

 measurements. Extreme length 2'8 ; greatest width at the 

 quadrates 1'2; greatest vertical depth without the mandible I'O; 

 transverse diameter at the base of the beak 0-75 ; transverse 

 diameter immediately in front of the nares 0*4; and the man- 

 dible in extreme length 2'5 inches. The cranium, therefore, is 

 longer than that of Momotus lessoni by about 0*2 inch, other 

 measurements yielding increment in proportion. 



The cranial configuration agrees with the latter in nearly 

 every respect, the only variation consisting in a trifle moi'e 

 arching of the beak and narrowing forwards, a kind of plough- 

 share-like expansion of the orbital limb of the quadrate, and pos- 



* P. Z. S. 1857, p. 2o8. t Cat. Am. B. p. 262 (1862). 



X Mus. Hein. ii. p. 114. 



