486 , The Roller-like Birds 



terminate in racket-shaped tips. Structurally they are distinguished by 

 the bridge (desmognathous) form of palate, a breast-bone with four notches 

 on the hinder margin which are converted into foramina, while the blind 

 intestines (caeca) are entirely absent. The bill, which is Crow-like in ap- 

 pearance, is provided with more or less pronounced saw-like notches, the 

 exact function of which is not well understood. In the elongated central 

 tail-feathers the racket-shaped expansions are usually separated by a long 

 naked space from the web of the basal portion of the feather. There has been 

 much discussion as to the manner in which these curious "rackets" are pro- 

 duced, some claiming that the birds themselves nibble away the webs as soon 

 as they begin to project beyond the others, thus leaving the shaft bare for an 

 inch or more. They have been observed to do this in captivity, but on the other 

 hand Dr. Stejneger has described and figured specimens belonging to the U. S. 

 National Museum in which the central tail-feathers, not yet half grown, are 

 shown to be perfectly racket-shaped. He also shows that the intermediate 

 portion of the web appears to be cut off by a line of holes, and this part would 

 be quite likely to be broken away by the serrated bills of the birds as they are 

 preening these feathers. The other feathers of the tail, as may be observed on 

 the under side, are much graduated, the outer pair being often hardly a third 

 the length of the others. 



TheMotmots are said to be rather solitary birds, or "at most living in pairs 

 among the gloomy forests, where they sit on the underwood nearly motionless, 

 or only jerking their long tails," as they utter their ordinary cry of hoo-hoo or 

 hu-tu, which is their native name in some districts. Their food is somewhat 

 more varied than that of their close relatives the Todies, consisting of insects, 

 reptiles, and fruits, while in captivity they become practically omnivorous. 

 Their nests, so far as known, are placed in holes excavated in banks, usually 

 along watercourses. The following description of the burrow of the common 

 Mexican and Central American species (Momotus lessoni] is by Mr. G K. Cherrie, 

 who observed it in Costa Rica. "The entrance tunnel extends back horizontally 

 sometimes for a distance of six feet. At about half its length there is a sharp 

 bend upward for some six inches, then the course is again horizontal as far as 

 the chamber occupied by the nest. The nest space is twelve or fourteen inches 

 in diameter, being round, and about six inches high with level floor and ceiling. 

 A few rather coarse dry twigs are strewn over the floor." The nest, if opened 

 when the young are about to leave, is found to be an exceedingly dirty and foul- 

 smelling place, with the remains of decaying and vermin-infested food scattered 

 about. The eggs are described as white or cream-colored and glossy; the 

 number is three or four. 



The twenty-four or more species of Motmots are disposed among seven 

 genera, in one of which, the monotypic Urospatha, the nostrils are oval and 

 situated in front of the nasal depression, while in the remaining genera the nostrils 

 are rounded and located in the front part of the nasal cavity. A further division 

 of the genera is made on the basis of the relative length of the tail, this being in 

 five genera much longer than the wing, while in the final genus (Hylomanes) 



