FAMILY MOMOTIDAE 437 



Characters. — Secondaries with three definite white bands; con- 

 cealed white on back and rump extensive. 



A male taken near Aguadulce, Code, January 22, 1963, had the 

 iris dark brown ; base of gonys and lower side of mandibular rami 

 dull buffy white ; rest of bill black ; tarsus and toes dusky neutral 

 gray ; claws black. 



A female collected near Puerto Armuelles, Chiriqui, March 13, 

 1966, was similar, but with the light area on the lower side of the 

 bill somewhat brownish white, and the tarsus, toes, and claws 

 fuscous-black. 



Measurements. — Males (18 from Mexico, Honduras, northern and 

 western Costa Rica, and the Pacific slope of Panama), wing 54.4- 

 60.7 (57.6), tail 34.1-39.0 (35.7), culmen from base 30.0-36.8 (32.9), 

 tarsus 8.0-9.9 (8.7) mm. 



Females (12 from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, western Costa 

 Rica, Chiriqui, and Los Santos), wing 56.5-62.7 (58.8), tail 34.6- 

 37.7 (35.8), culmen from base 29.4-34.3 (32.2), tarsus 8.0-9.8 

 (8.7) mm. 



Resident. Local near the coast in Chiriqui (Puerto Armuelles, 

 Divala, Las Lajas), Los Santos (Tonosi, Pedasi), Code (Aguadulce), 

 and eastern Province of Panama (Chico). Isla Coiba. 



In Panama birds of this race have been found only in the lowlands 

 on the Pacific slope, mainly on the borders of mangrove swamps, 

 less frequently farther inland. The greater extent of the white mark- 

 ings is seen only on careful comparision. 



Family MOMOTIDAE: Motmots; Momotidos 



The eight species of this interesting family are distributed widely 

 from Mexico through Central America and South America south 

 to northern Argentina. Motmots vary in habit from those that live 

 in thickets or open tree growth to others found in the heavy shadows 

 of humid forests. They are most abundant throughout the tropical 

 lowlands, extending in mountain areas to the Subtropical Zone, with 

 one, Aspatha gularis, found in the lower Temperate Zone forests 

 from southern Mexico to El Salvador and Honduras. All have 

 strong bills, that may be flat or conical according to the species, with 

 the cutting edges coarsely or finely serrated, and short, rounded 

 wings. The tail in seven is long and graduated, with the central 

 rectrices slender and narrowed above the tips. In some these fully 

 developed feathers are spatulate at the end when fully grown. It 

 was believed earlier that the bird made this racket tip by trimming 



