on the raotmot.



155



insectivorous food, with meat and fruit mixed in, besides which any

insects, beetles, spiders, earthworms, etc. are welcomed as an addition

to the menu.


My bird loves a sandbatb, and perhaps this is according to

its habits in wild life.


Mr. C. William Beebe has written in his most interesting

book “ Two bird-lovers in Mexico,” an account of “ The Pendulum

of the Barranco,” as follows, where he describes the Mexican Mot-

mot, whose portrait is given here, through Mr. Beebe’s kindness in

sending it to me. “ It was in a grove of wild fig-trees that I first

“ saw a Mexican motmot, one of the most interesting and character-

“ istic birds of the ‘ tierra caliente,’ and perhaps the most beautifully

“ coloured of all birds we saw in Mexico. One’s first impression of

“ a motmot, as seen at a distance, is of a large-headed brown and

“greenish bird, with a broad bar of black on the head.” [Mr.

Beebe is writing of a different species to my bird. H.B.A.] “ We


“ were fortunate enough to be able to study one of these birds in

“ our very camp. With a lucky shot I stunned one with a small-

“ calibre shot-cartridge. The bird soon recovered and remained

“about the camp, retaining its full liberty, feeding upon scraps of

“ meat, or occasionally catching insects for itself. Its favourite

“ perch was a branch of flowering clavillina, to which one end of

“ the ridge-pole of our tent was tied. Here, day after day, it un¬

consciously posed' before the camera, the only matter of regret

“ being that its exquisite colouring, which shewed so beautifully

“ on the ground glass, must be lost in the negative.”


The tree is the Cotton Tree (Bombctx pcclmeri), which is of

good size, and whose oblong flowers burst open, revealing a radiating

tassel of long silky-white stamens, five or six inches in length.


“ These trees love to grow,” Mr. Beebe adds, “ on the very

“ brink of the barrancos, their branches reaching far out over the

“sheer cliffs.”


“ The bark peels off in long fluttering red streamers, thin and

“ transparent, and the rustling of these in the slightest breath of

“ air is a very characteristic sound of the country. The flowers

“ are fragrant, attracting hosts of insects, which in their turn draw

“ the birds.”



