322 Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Prionites. 



and from the other scattered information which we possess, the 

 favourite haunts of the Motmots are known to be the depths 

 of retired forests generally near the vicinity of water ; they 

 are solitary, or live in pairs only, utter a monotonous often re- 

 peated note, breed in holes in the banks of ravines or in hol- 

 low trees, and live upon insects, reptiles, small or young birds, 

 and fruits or berries ; and as we learn from the notes of our 

 correspondent, they occasionally also search for their food 

 upon the ground. 



The Motmots seem to be confined chiefly to the northern 

 half of the southern continent of America, one at least, as its 

 name implies, extending into the Mexican provinces ; it is 

 probable also that the different species are local or restricted 



nately for a long time, till they tired them, caught them and killed them 

 with strokes as they treated the meat. They continued this even after the 

 birds were dead, till they had completely swallowed them, beginning at the 

 head, and not hesitating at the feathers ; they did the same with mice, but 

 did not care for rather larger birds, which they could not swallow ; whence 

 it may be inferred that they would do as much damage to nests as the Tou- 

 cans, which they resemble in other points." — Jpuntamientos de Azara, 

 torn. i. 243. Num. LII. Del Tutu. 



" The Houtou shuns the society of man. The plantations and cultivated 

 parts are too much disturbed to engage it to settle there ; the thick and 

 gloomy forests are the places preferred by the solitary Houtou. In those 

 far-extending wilds, about day-break, you hear him articulate in a distinct 

 and mournful tone, * Houtou, Houtou.' Move cautiously to where the sound 

 proceeds from, and you will see him sitting in the underwood, about a 

 couple of yards from the ground, his tail moving up and down every time 

 he articulates ' Houtou.' He lives on insects and the berries amongst the 

 underwood, and very rarely is seen in the lofty trees, except the bastard 

 Liloabali tree ; the fruit of which is grateful to him. He makes no nest, 

 but rears his young in a hole in the sand, generally on the side of a hill." — 

 Watertoris Wanderings, p. 127. 



"The Motmots, so named from their monotonous note, live only in the 

 tropical forests of the New World, preferring those deep recesses of per- 

 petual shade, where a high canopy of matted foliage nearly excludes the rays 

 of a vertical sun. They appear even more solitary in their disposition than 

 the Trogons ; their note may be heard morning and evening, from the 

 depths of the forests, but the bird is never seen, unless the hunter comes 

 unexpectedly upon its retreat. This we have generally found to be a low 

 withered branch, completely shaded, and just at the edge of such paths as 

 are made by the Cavies or the Indians. The Jacamas and the Trogons both 

 love these shady nooks, where they sit motionless, watching for passing in- 

 sects, on which they dart. Such is no doubt the manner in which the Mot- 

 mot feeds, but his strong conformation enables him to capture larger game." 

 — Swains. Zool. Illust. 2nd Series, descrip. of P. Martii. 



"The Motmot is solitary, hiding in the deep shades of the forest, and, 

 like other air-feeding birds, is always found sitting nearly motionless." — 

 " While its fissirostral habit of catching its food upon the wing, and the 

 discovery of the broad-billed species (P. pla(yrhyncJms), seem to us a con- 

 clusive argument for placing this genus in the Fissirostral order." — Stvains. 

 Nat. Hist, and Classification of Birds, ii. p. 141. 



