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



misled by, or laying too much stress on, similarity of the di- 

 gestive organs, imperfectly known in the Motmots at the time 

 he wrote. 



Next in order the affinities of the Motmots lie between the 

 Alcedinidse and Coraciidse ; and balancing one thing with another, 

 certain genera of the former exhibit more numerous points in 

 their favour, though every thing depends on tlie value attributed 

 to a given set of characters. The Kingfishers, as a group, are 

 wanting in aftershaft to feathers ; usually their tongue is short 

 and somewhat rounded, cseca diminutive, rictal bristles absent, 

 structui'al conditions the opposite of the Rollers' [Coracias), and 

 approximating the latter to the Motmots. In some of the 

 Rollers where there is elongation of the tail-feathei's it is the 

 outer and not inner ones ; they are more often gregarious birds, 

 strong on the wing; and their foot is less syndactylous, thus 

 deviating in Momotine tendency. Again, among the King- 

 fishers, Tanysiptera, in having but 10 rectrices, the two median 

 spatulate, beai's a likeness to Urospatha and to Eumomota and its 

 ally. Cittur'a, in its grooved culmen, repeats Prionirhynchus ;% 

 Myoceyx and Ispidina, by short tail, resemble Hylomanes, whilst 

 Syjna, with serrate mandible and 12 rectrices, offers a counter- 

 part of Momotus. Moreover in its tongue Pelargopsis differs 

 from its brethren, and gains likeness to Momotus. The Bee- 

 eaters (in genera) after the same fashion, approach and recede 

 from the Motmots; but whilst yoke-footed and feathered 

 like them and partly Coracias, they are truly birds adapted 

 in minutiae of structure for rapid aerial flight, and associate 

 in flocks, &c. 



The true reading appears to be that certain genera of each of 

 the above families juts prominently towards the Motmots, these 

 latter, in turn, inclining to the contrary dispositions. Thus it 

 is hard to predicate of a family consisting of many members 

 that they bear absolutely nearest relationship to another, the 

 latter being as closely linked in an opposite direction. An ex- 

 l)lanation of these vagaries has been suggested by the theory of 

 geographical representation, the Old- World Rollers, Bee-eaters, 

 and Kingfishers, being represented in the American fauna by 

 the Motmots, Jacamars, and Todies. This, however, leads to 



