The Hot-Mot. 109 



order ; that is, it did not close properly at the 

 point ; and consequently the picking off the web 

 at last was improperly performed, and the two 

 sides of the tail-feather presented an unequal and 

 unfinished appearance/' Whether this racket- 

 shaped end to the tail be natural or artificial, it 

 is most noticeable in the specimen at the Zoo. 

 Another peculiarity of the bird, though one not 

 ordinarily visible, is the tongue, which is long, 

 ff bifid for half an inch, and feathered at the 

 sides/' and much resembles that of the toucan, 

 with which the mot-mots were formerly classed. 



The mot-mots are natives of tropical America, 

 their range extending from Mexico, in the North, 

 to Brazil and Paraguay, in the South; they are 

 solitary forest-haunting birds. The following is 

 Waterton's account of their habits, as noticed by 

 him in Demerara : cc He who wishes to observe 

 this handsome bird in his native haunts must be in 

 the forest at the morning's dawn. The houtou 

 shuns the society of man, the plantations and culti- 

 vated parts are too much disturbed to engage it to 

 settle there. The thick and gloomy forests are the 

 places preferred by the solitary houtou. In those 

 far-extending wilds about daybreak, you hear him 

 articulate in a distinct and mournful tone, ' Houtou, 

 houtou.' Move cautiously on to where the sound 

 proceeds from, and you will see him sitting in the 

 underwood, about a couple of yards from the 

 ground, his tail moving up and down every time he 

 articulates ' houtou/ He lives on insects and the 



