MOTMOTS. 
57 
has ever seen actually perch on the ground, the M, Philip" 
sinensis generally selecting a pebble, be it ever so small. 
All the species have a pleasing note, particularly the M. 
viridis when selecting a roost for the night : this is gene- 
rally a low tree or bush, to which they return night after 
night/' 
The Motmots [Prionites) are American birds allied to the 
bee-eaters, but distinguished from them by many peculiari- 
ties, such as having the edges of the mandibles jagged, 
somewhat like a saw, while the tongue is feathered at the 
end. The tail is long and graduated. Dr. Cabot thus 
refers to the black-throated motmot of Yucatan : As one 
listens to it, and sees the bird perched on some branch 
in one of the dark deserted court-yards, with its head 
drawn iu, its tail drooping, its plumage ruffled, and its large 
dark eye fixed upon him with a solemn still expression, he 
might imagine it to be animated by the spirit of one of the 
Maya priests, who had come there to mourn over the ruined 
temples and desecrated altars."^^ 
Mr. Swainson says, that the Brazilian species are very 
solitary, and only found in the deepest recesses of the forest, 
whence morning and evening the traveller hears their mono- 
* Boston Journal, vol. iv. p. 466. 
