456 MOMOTID^. 



the genus readily divide into two groups — one containing those with the crown blue or 

 black with a blue cincture, the other those with a chestnut head. The number of 

 species admitted by Mr. Sharpe is eleven ; Mr. Sclater recognizing ten in 1857. Of 

 these five occur within our limits, viz. three of the first section and both the species of 

 the second, which is peculiar to Western Mexico and Guatemala. 



The bill of Momotus is stout and compressed, the culmen curved and transversely 

 rounded without any definite ridge, the serrations of the tomia are large and extend 

 along the middle portion of both maxilla and mandible ; the antrorse loral feathers 

 when directed forwards reach as far as the nostrils without covering them ; the nostrils 

 themselves are nearly round, and are at the extremity of the nasal fossa, with a 

 membrane behind. The tarsi as compared with the wing are rather long: the tail 

 consists of twelve feathers, the outer pair reaching a little beyond the ends of the 

 under tail-coverts ; the middle pair are usually trimmed by the bird so as to leave a 

 spatule at the end. 



a. Pileus aut cceruleus aut niger ccBVuleo circumcinctus. 



1. IComotus lessoni. 



Momotus lessoni, Less. Rev. Zool. 1842, p. 174'; Des Murs, Icon. Orn. t. 63 = ; Scl. P. Z. S. 1856, 

 pp. 139', 285*; 1857, p. 253 ^ 1859, p. 387"; Moore, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 54'; Scl. & Salv. 

 Ibis, 1859, p. 131^ P. Z. S. 1870, p. 837"; Salv. Ibis, 1860, p. 100"; 1872, p. 321"; 

 P. Z. S. 1867, p. 150''; 1870, p. 201"; Cat. Strickl. Coll. p. 413"; Lawr. Ann. Lye. 

 N. Y. viii. p. 178'°; ix. pp. 117", 204"; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 4, p. 29"; v. Frantz. 

 J. f. Orn. 1869, p. 311'"; Boucard, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 48'°; 1883, p. 453"; Sumicbrast, 

 La Nat. v. p. 239"; Nutting, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. v. p. 399"; vi. p. 387"; Ridgw. Pr. 

 U. S. Nat. Mus. V. p. 501 " ; x. pp. 582 =', 591 " ; Zeledon, An. Mus. Nac. Costa Rica, 

 1887, p. 119 ='; Cberrie, Auk, 1892, p. 322'"; Ricbmond, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. xvi. p. 510'°. 



Momotus psalurus, Bp. Compt. Rend, xxxviii. p. 659 (1854) ". 



Prionites psalurus, Cab. J. f. Orn. 1861, p. 255''. 



Prionites momotus, Bp. P. Z. S. 1837, p. 114". 



Supra olivaceo-viiidis, capite summo nigro argenteo-cseruleo circumcincto, ad nucham cyaneo-purpureo tincto 

 nigro distincte marginato ; capitis lateribus nigris, csemleo anguste limbatis : subtus paulo rufescentior, 

 gula viridi tincta, plaga pectoral! nigra cEeruleo limbata ; alis extus cserulescentioribus ; cauda quoque 

 cseruleseente, rectricibus duabus mediis nigro terminatis. Long, tota circa 15'5, alae 5-2, caudse rectr. 

 med. 8-5, rectr. latr. 3'0, rostri a rietu 1'7, tarsi I'l. (Descr. feminae ex Izamal, Yucatan. Mus. nostr.) 

 cj feminae similis. 



Hab. Mexico, Xacaltepec [Deppe, in Mus. Berol.), Orizaba, Cordova (Salle ^, Sumi- 

 chrast^^), Huatusco, Cuichapa [Ferrari-Perez), Yera. Cruz (W. B. Richardson), 

 Playa Vicente [Boucard^, M. Trujillo), Teotalcingo [Boucard^), Atoyac, Teapa 

 [Mrs. H. H. Smith), Chimalapa (Sumichrast^^, W. B. Bichardson), Guichicovi 

 (<S'MmMmsi( 18 22 j^ Xemax 21, Buctzotz and Peto in N.Yucatan [0. F. Gaumer), 

 Merida [Schott i^) ; Bkitish Hondueas, Cayo and San Felipe in the western 



