BRASILIAN MOMOT. 



45 



dlemost : the legs, feet, and claws are of a brown- 

 ish flesh-colour, (Marcgrave says black.) It hath 

 three toes forward and one backvv^ard: the outer 

 fore toes are joined to the middle ones almost their 

 whole length: the feet are broad and flat: the toes 

 seem to have narrow membranes on their sides, 

 which give them breadth. I have been as parti- 

 cular as I could in its description^ there being, I 

 think, some difficulty, from the uncommonness of 

 the bill and tail, how to class it^ so that I hope 

 the system-makers of this age will easily find it a 

 proper place." 



The most celebrated system-maker of that age, 

 Linnaeus, accordingly considered the bird as a 

 species of Ramphastos or Toucan, under the 

 name of Ramphastos Momota; but our own con- 

 summate ornithologist. Dr. Latham, has, with 

 stricter propriety, instituted for it a separate 

 genus; the structure of the feet forbidding it to 

 be associated with the genuine Toucans, which 

 are all furnished with what Linnaeus calls scan- 

 sorial or climbing feet, having the toes placed 

 two forwards and two backwards, as in the Parrot 

 tribe. Mr. Latham has also noticed an important 

 circumstance relative to the plumage of this bird; 

 viz. that though the tail in many specimens exhi- 

 bits the very remarkable particularity described 

 and figured by Edwards, yet in its truly natural 

 or perfectly complete state the two middle fea- 

 thers are entirely webbed throughout their whole 

 length. 



The Momot is nearly equal in size to a Magpie, 



