FAMILY MOMOTID^E 



Female. Similar to male but a band of green- 

 ish black speckled with white crossing chest. 



Young male. Similar to adult male but under 

 parts paler and chest streaked indistinctly with 

 blackish. 



Young female. Similar to adult female. 



Rare. This species is easily distinguishable by 

 reason of its diminutive size. One seen perched 

 on a branch over the Rio Chilibri in about the 

 same location and at the same time of year in 

 1923 and in 1924. 



34. Family MOMOTID^E 

 The Motmots. "Culebrero" 



The mot mots form a mall, tropical Ameri- 

 can group rather closely related to the king- 

 fishers (Alcedinidce). They are beautiful 

 birds of blue, green and russet plumage, with 

 a graduated tail of which the middle pair of 

 feathers is much elongated and has the shafts 

 denuded for about an inch a little above the 

 extremity, forming racket-shaped tips. This 

 is done by the bird itself "nibbling off the 

 barbs"; the purpose of this extraordinary 

 mutilation is not known. 



They are found in the deep forests or dense 

 thickets, stupidly sitting in one place for long 

 periods of time, often twitching their tail from 

 side to side in a characteristic way. They 

 nest in holes that they excavate in banks of 

 streams, though some species select natural 

 caves or crevices. 



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