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



but not deep ; a few weak rictal vibrissse ; nostril roundish, bare, 

 nearly basal ; wings rather short and rounded ; feathers with 

 an after-plume; spinal tract without a space; tongue long 

 and thin ; stomach muscular ; intestines with large cseca ; pa- 

 latal bars rounded posteriorly, and without spines ; maxillo- 

 palatines spongy, almost mesially united, and truncate behind ; 

 pterygoids short ; bony nares large, oval ; sternal keel moderately 

 produced forwards, and anteriorly emarginate; coracoids rela- 

 tively long ; pelvis short and wide ; humerus large in propor- 

 tion to femur; calcaneal process of tarsus moderate-sized, and 

 with a single perforation; vertebrae 35; food, chiefly insects; 

 breed in holes, and lay white eggs; are solitary in habit or go 

 in pairs. 



All inhabitants of Tropical America. 



Fam. MoMOTiD^. — Distinguished by : — a short or moderate 

 tarsus; pronounced beak-serrations; premaxillaries greatly ex- 

 ceeding the length of skull behind ; orbital septum almost 

 entirely ossified ; prefrontals broad ; lachrymals diminutive or 

 absent; temporal groove well marked and deepish; palate-rods 

 of medium width ; sternal notches converted into foramina ; 

 tongue terminally bifid, and laterally feathered ; remiges 21 ; 

 10 or 12 graduated rectrices, short, moderate, or elongate, and 

 two median occasionally spatulous. ' - " 



It possesses six reputed genera, which I am inclined to reduce 

 to four. 



Fam. ToDiD^*. — Having a long tarsus; very diminutive 

 mandibular serrations ; premaxillaries only slightly exceeding 

 skull's length behind; a very large interorbital space; pre- 

 frontals narrow ; lachrymals of good size, their inferior limb 

 reaching the jugal ; temporal groove short and shallow ; palate- 

 rods narrow and slender; sternal fissures open; remiges 19; 

 recti'ices 12, and tail short and rounded. A^t-^v^ r^fr 



Represented solely by the genus Todus. 



* Nitzsch's Todidse comprises five families, and therefore is not equi- 

 valent to the present subdivision. 



