MOMOTUS. 459 



Gould described this Motmot in 1836 from a specimen said to have come from 

 Tamaulipas ^ ; it was figured shortly afterwards by Jardine and Selby, from a specimen 

 of unknown origin, under the name of M. cceruleocephalus ^'^, and it received yet another 

 appellation from Lesson in 1847 ^^. Its range is restricted to the eastern portion of 

 Mexico which extends from about the middle of the State of Vera Cruz northwards to 

 Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon. From the last-named States we have many specimens, 

 sent us by Mr. Richardson and Mr. Armstrong. In the neighbourhood of Jalapa it is 

 found with its head uniformly blue, but a little to the southward of this district, on 

 the road from Vera Cruz to Cordova and beyond it at Playa Vicente, bii'ds show a slight 

 admixture of black in the centre of the crown, and are thus intermediate between 

 M. cceruleiceps and M. lessoni, the prevalent species throughout the more southern 

 portion of Mexico and the whole of Central America. 



We have no special account of the habits of this species, which doubtless are like 

 those of its close ally M. lessoni, 



3. Momotus subrufescens. 



Momotus subrufescens, Scl. Rev. Zool. 1853, p. 489'; P.Z.S. 1857, p. 252'; Lawr. Ann. Lye. 



N. Y. vii. p. 318"; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xvii. p. 321, t. 10. fig. 1*. 

 Momotus lessoni, Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. vii. p. 290 °; Scl. & Salv. P.Z. S, 1864, p. 362 \ 

 M. lessoni quoque affinis, abdomine plerumque rufescentiore, corona capitis argenteo-caerulea ad nucham 

 rufescente nee nigro limbata. 



Hah. Panama, Lion Hill (M'Leannan), Chepo (^rce).— Colombia^ 2; Venezuela and 

 Matto Grosso in Brazil *. 



Mr. Sclater separated this species from M. swainsoni (sive bahamensis), the bird of 

 Trinidad and Tobago, basing his description on specimens from Santa Marta in 

 Northern Colombia i. With this birds from the Line of the Panama Eailway agree. 



M. subrufescens can be readily distinguished from M. lessoni by the absence of the 

 black margin to the back of the blue coronet, the feathers there being slightly edged 

 with chestnut. The body, too, beneath, is more rufescent. The range of this bird in 

 the State of Panama is very restricted, and does not seem to pass beyond the Line of 

 the Eailway, where, however, it is far from uncommon. In the more western portion 

 of the State, where Arce collected so industriously, M. lessoni alone is found *. 



The range of M. subrufescens in South America is restricted to the northern coast- 

 region of Colombia and Venezuela ; but Mr. Sharpe suggests a separation between the 

 birds from these countries, and further remarks that Mr. Herbert Smith's specimens 

 from Matto Grosso are intermediate. 



* Mr. Sharpe * places one of Arce's specimens from Mina de Chorcha, a place not far from Chiriqui, under 

 this species, but it is undoubtedly an example of the true 21. lessoni. 



58* 



