PASSE RINjE. • 291 



The tail of several species, liowever, is nearly square* or sliglitly 



forked f, tliougli this sometimes depends upon their condition when 



killed. 



We should approximate to the Bee-eaters certain long-tailed hirds, with 



metallic-coloured plumage, hitherto classed with Promerops, but whose two 



external toes are almost as extensively united as those of the former J. 



There appears to be none of this genus in America, where they are re- 

 presented in some respects by the . 



Prionites, llVig. 



Tlie !Motmots have the feet and carriage of the Bee-eaters, but differ in 

 the bill, which is stronger, the edges of both mandibles being serrated, 

 and in their tongue, which, like that of the Toucans, is barbed. They 

 are beautiful birds, as large as the Magpie ; the plumage on the head, 

 loose as in the Jays, and a long cuneiform tail ; the stems of tlie two mid» 

 die quills being stripped of their barbs (in the adult) for a short distance 

 near the extremities, gives to the whole a singular appearance. They 

 fly badly, are solitary, build in holes, feed on insects, and even on small 

 birds §. 



Alcedo, Lin. 



The Kingfishers have shorter feet than the Bee-eaters, and the bill, 

 wliich is straight, angular, and pointed, much longer; the tongue and tail 

 are very short. There are two emarginations in their sternum., as in 

 those of the Bee-eaters and the Rollers. They feed on small fish which 

 they capture by precipitating themselves into the water from some branch 

 where they have remained perched, watching for their prey. Their sto- 

 mach is a membranous sac. They nestle like Bee-eaters in holes on the 



• Merops pMUppinuSjEnl. 57; — M. cayennensis, 454. (N. B. That it is not from 

 Cayenne). — M. nubicns, 649; — M. erytropterus, 318; — M. malimhicus, Sh. or birnlor, 

 Daud. Ann. du Mus. I, Ixii, and Vaill. 5, Vieill. Gal. 186; — AL gularis, Nat Misc. 

 387;— M. amicius, T. Col. 310;— il/. Daudin, Vaill. 14.-3/. coromandus, Lath. Son- 

 nerat, Voy. 2, 105, or G. cytrin, Vaill. 11; — M. quinticolor, Vaill. 16; — M. minulut, 

 Vain. 17;— M. Lechenaud, Vaill. 18;— 3/. Bullock, Vaill. 20. 



f M. taiva, Vaill. 8. — M. urica, Swains. Zool. 111. S. N. B. The Merops congener, 

 Aldr. I, 876, is not -very authentic; — the cafer, Gm., is the Uptipa promerops; — the 

 brasiliensis, Seb. I, Ixvi, 1, is most probably an Icterus; — the M. monaclius, cornicu- 

 latus, cyanops, are Gj'mnops; — the Mer. plirugius, cincinnaius, cucullatus, cyanops, gar- 

 rulus, fasciculatus, carunculatus, of Lath., appear to us to be Philedons; we have even 

 ascertained this to be the fact with respect to most of them; — the M. cinereus, Seb. 

 XXXI, 10, is a long-tailed Cinnyris or Soui-nanga- ' 



X The Promerops moqueur, Vaill. Prom. 1, 2, and 4 {Upupa erythrorhynchos, Lath.) 

 The young bird has a, black bill. — The Prom, namaquois, Vaill. 5 and 6, or Falcin. 

 cyanomelas, Vieill. 



§ The Blue-headed Motmot, or the Houtou of Guyana, Guira, guaynumbi of the 

 Brazilians, according to IMarcgrave (Rhamphastos momota, Gm.), or Pr. hrasiliensis, 

 Illig. Enl. 370; Vaill. Ois. de Par. &c. I, pi. xxxvii and xxxviii; — the Motmot atite 

 rousse, or of Peru; Motmot doinbey, Vaill. loc. cit. pL xxxix, and Vieill. Gal. pi. cxcj 

 — Pr. Marcii, Spix, 9; — the Tutre of Paraguay, Azz. No. 52, are, to say the least, 

 closely allied to it 



Motmot, according to Fernandez, is the Mexican name of the first. Prionitis, from 

 jjrion, saw, a name given by Illiger. M. Vieillot has changed it into Baripuonus. 

 Ti p. 9 



