THE SEARCHERS. 83 



pairs, flying just above the tops of the trees, diving and rising again with rapid turns in the most 

 beautiful manner. During flight, which, when performed at a considerable elevation, is laboured 

 and heavy, the white spot in the centre of each wing, then widely expanded, shows very distinctly ; 

 and hence the name of Dollar Bird bestowed on it by the colonists. It is very noisy, particularly 

 in dull weather, when it often emits its peculiar chattering note during flight. The breeding season 

 continues from September to December ; the three or four pearl-white eggs are deposited in a tree." 



THE ORIENTAL DOLLAR BIRD. 

 The Oriental Dollar Bird {Eurystomus Orientalis), a nearly-allied Indian species, we are 

 told, passes a great portion of its tiaie in flying from place to place, and hangs. Woodpecker-like, 

 from the trunks of trees whilst in search of the grubs and insects on which it subsists. 



The SAW-BILL ROLLERS {Fnonites), though in many respects resembling the Blue Rollers, 

 differ from that bird in their superior length of tail and height of tarsus, as well as in the saw-like 

 edges with which the margin of the beak is furnished ; the latter is slightly curved, compressed at 

 its sides, and without a hook at its tip ; the base of the beak is overgrown with stiff, brisde-hke 

 feathers. The wings, in which the fourth or fifth quills are the longest, are short and rounded ; the 

 strong, wedge-shaped tail is composed sometimes of ten, sometimes of twelve feathers, placed in 

 pairs of equal length, of which the centre pair are the longest. The plumage is fuU, soft, and 

 consists of large feathers, thickly covered with down at the roots. 



The Saw-bill Rollers occupy the woods and forests of South America, and lead a retired life, 

 either alone or in pairs, and far from the abode of man ; their cry, which resembles a note from a 

 flute, is most frequently heard in the morning and evening. Insects afford their principal means of 

 subsistence, and these they obtain in a great measure from the surface of the ground. 



THE MOT-MOT. 



The Mot-mot {Prionites momotd) is of an olive-green on the back, wing-covers, and legs ; the 

 neck, throat, breast, and belly are reddish yellow ; the top of the head, cheeks, and bridles black ; 

 and the brow and a narrow collar at the back of the head of a brilliant blueish green ; the quills are 

 blackish, the secondaries sky-blue on the outer web. The tail, which is composed of twelve feathers, 

 is green above and black beneath ; the eye is reddish brown, the beak black, and the foot horn-grey. 

 This species is nineteen inches long ; the wing measures six and a half inches, and the tail eleven 

 inches. 



According to Burmeister, the Mot-mot inhabits the wooded districts in Northern Brazil ; and 

 Schomburghk, who founji them very numerous in Guiana, had there an ojiportunity of observing their 

 habits and mode of life. "Shortly before sunrise," says the last-named writer, "the plaintive and 

 melancholy 'hutu, hutu' of the Saw-billed Roller may be heard among the foliage on the outskirts of 

 the forest, announcing the approach of morning. This remarkable bird seems to a^'oid all well-lighted 

 places ; and, although by no means shy, never appears beyond the outskirts of the forest. It will 

 even allow an intruder to come quite close to its perching-place before it flies off to another twig, 

 where, immediately that it has perched itself, it again begins its well-known notes ' hutu, hutu,' 

 accompanying each syllable with a stroke of its tail somewhat after the manner of our own Wagtail." 



When about to construct its nest, the Mot-mot selects a round or oval depression in the side 

 of some hillock, or other elevated sjiot ; and although the male and female regularly relieve each 

 otner at short intervals, the monotonous dui\- of incubation seems by no means agreeable to either ; 



