278 NORTU AMERICA y BIRDS. 



ish, sometimes lingcd with russet; ear-coverts black, bordered above bj- a 



lino of bright light greenish blue or bluish green (this sometimes almost 



obsolete). 



¥. Wliolo top of head bright verditer-bluc, varj-ing to verdigris-green, duller 



centralh- ; length about 14.20-15.00, wing 5.30-5.70, middle tail-foathei's 



8.80-9.15, exposed culmon 1.40-1.55. JIab. Eastern Mexico, north to 



Eio Grande Valley (Nuovo Leon). 



M. cseruleiceps Gould. Blue-crowned Motmot.' 

 W. Top of head deep black centrally, this entircl}- surrounded by bright verditer- 

 blue, the latter bordered exteriorly, from eyes backward, by rich pur- 

 plish ultramarine-blue ; size about the same as in M. cceruleiceps. Hah. 

 Central America, from Veragua to southern Mexico. 



M. Icssonii Lf.s.s. Lesson's Motmot.' 

 «'. Whole top of head and hind-neck uniform rufous; lores dull graj'ish, mixed 

 with dusky ; lower j)arts pale glaucous-green (sometimes tinged with buffy 

 anteriorly), changing to dull whitish on flanks, anal region, and under tail- 

 eoverts ; a large spot of puiplish smalt-blue underneath eye, on malar region, 

 and ear-coverts usually largely ultramarine- or smalt-blue; length about 

 12.00-13.00, wing 4.50-5.00, middle tail-feathers G.50-7.50, exposed culmen 

 1.40-1. GO. Hab. Southwestern Mexico, north to Mazatlan. 



M. mexicanus Swains. Rufous-crowned Motmot.' 



Family ALCEDINIDiE.— The Kingfishers. (Page 271.) 

 Genera. 



(Characters same as those given for the P^imily) Ceryle. (Page 278.) 



Genus CERYLE Boie. (Page 278, pi. LXXX., figs. 2, 3.) 



{Nest at extremity of horizontal burrow in earth-banks. Eggs usually 6, ovato 

 or oval, pure white, with smooth, somewhat glossy surface.) 



/Species. 



a'. Wing 6.00, or more ; tarsus about as long as hind-toe, much shorter than inner 

 anterior too; plumage without metallic gloss. (Ujiper parts plumbeous-blue, 

 or bluish plumbeous, more or loss streaked with black, especially on top 

 of head, the tail-feathers transversely spotted with white, these markings 

 usuallj' more or less hidden in closed tail; chin, throat, and collar round hind- 

 neck pure white.) (Subgenus Strcptoceryle Bonap.) 

 i'. Wing more than 7.00, culmen more than 3.00 ; belly, sides, and flanks uni- 



> MomoUu acnilcicepii Goni.n, P. Z. S. 1836, 18. 



» Momuliit hftonii Lkss., Rev, Zool. June, 1842, 174 (Realcjo, Nicaragua). 



• ilnmiilut mexicauM SwAIxs,, Pliilos, Mag. n. s. i. 1827, 442. 



