MOTMOT. 2,97 



in length. Tlie bill one inch and three quarters long, with indenta- 

 tions on the edges to the number of twelve or thirteen ; above it is 

 dusky, at the base flesh-coloured, and furnished with a few bristles : 

 irides yellow ; tongue long, feathered on the sides as in the Toucan 

 Genus : the feathers on the upper part and sides of the bill are black, 

 passing through the eyes and below them, ending in a point ; middle 

 of the crown black; between that and the bill blue green ; hind head 

 blue; so that the crown appears to be surrounded with blue; below 

 this the colour is chestnut ; neck behind, back, scapulars, and rump 

 green ; quills bluish, with the ends dusky ; under part of the body 

 greenish buff-colour ; on the breast three or four narrow black feathers, 

 forming a spot ; tail ten inches and a half long, and cuneiform, the 

 feathers, twelve in number, the two middle ones three inches and a 

 half longer than the next,* and the exterior one very short, the six 

 middle are green, with blue ends, and four of them tipped with black ; 

 the others wholly green, with dusky ends ; legs brown. 



Inhabits Brazil, Cayenne, Mexico, and other parts of South 

 America : said to live on insects; is solitary, frequenting thick forests ; 

 more frequently seen on the ground singly, or on a low branch of a 

 tree, taking short flights, and when disturbed, has a cry imitating 

 the word Houtou. 



A. — Momotus varius, Bits. iv. 469. Gm. Lin. i. 357. 

 Yayauhquitotl. Rail, 167. Will. 298. Id. Engl. 386. 

 Variegated Motmot, Gen. Syn. i. 340. A. 



This is said to be as big as a Stare, and parti-coloured of green, 



* In Edwards's Plate, and in the description of various authors, the two middle tail 

 feathers are bare of webs for one inch and a half, at least, near the ends. I have seen such, 

 and believe it to be a frequent occurrence, but by no means natural to the bird, as it is not 

 observed in young specimens. Neither Buffon nor Brisson describe theirs as incomplete; 

 and in my own collecton is one every way perfect. In the Leverian Collection were two, in 

 both of which the webs were bare in part at the usual place, on one side only, but on the 

 opposite sides of the web in each. It may, therefore, be accidental, or owing to some cir- 

 cumstance attached to the manners, not hitherto known, — be this as it may, it is only seen 

 in old birds. Q q 



