98 NICARAGUA. 



their devastating propensities. Scarcely are maize or fruit 

 ripe when these monkeys invade the plantations and carry away 

 the ears of maize or the fruit. Unfortunately for the owners it 

 is very difficult to surprise and kill them as they leave scouts 

 all round during their plundering expeditions, and when the 

 Indians arrive on the scene, not one is to be seen. It is is 

 only by surprise that they can be killed. 



Although I was very fond of eating the flesh of most of 

 the mammals and birds which I killed in my expeditions, I did 

 not taste that of this animal, so I cannot say v\'hat it is like, 

 but I have been told that the Indians and hunters consider 

 it a great delicacy, roasted. 



I also procured some other species of monkeys, but they 

 were very small. One of them, a sort of Ouistiti (Jacalus). 

 was a very pretty creature, and is often domesticated. 



Among the birds, one called Mot-mot (Eumonota siiper- 

 ciliaris) , was very abundant, and I secured many specimens. 

 Its native name. Mot-mot, comes from its cry, which sounds 

 exactly as the pronunciation of that word in a deep, low voice, 

 and which it repeats frequently, when perched in the interior 

 of the forest, one of its peculiar habits. Sometimes 

 it will remain for hours on the same branch repeating now 

 and then its curious cry, and at the same time moving its tail 

 up and down. The two central feathers of the tail are very 

 long and bare in the middle, terminating with a sort of round 

 spot similar to an eve. They are quite visible when he 

 moves its tail. It is said that the bird itself, with its bill, lays 

 bare that part of the median feathers by plucking one by one 

 the feathers of the quill, so as to make it more ornamental. 

 It is possible, but I am not certain, that it has been proved. 

 It is true that in the voung birds these feathers, excepting in 

 their length, are like the others, and do not show any bare 

 place; but this may be produced by some other means than 

 by the plucking of them. 



It would be necessary to know how and where they nest, 

 a fact which I have never been able to find out, but which 

 would throw some light on the matter, if what I have been 

 told is true, that they nest in the cavities of trees and holes in 

 the ground, where they may loose their quill feathers in 

 entering and getting out of their nests. I say this because I 

 have killed many specimens which not only had the middle, 

 but also the extremity of the quill, bare of feathers and very 

 much worn. 



These birds are always seen in pairs ; but several pairs 



