THE SEVENTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.THE MOTMOTS (Momotidæ).
BILL OF MOTMOT.
BILL OF MOTMOT.
These birds are peculiar to the New World, being found from Mexico southwards through the whole of Central America and the South American continent. Their general plumage is green, and the majority of the species have a large racket at the end of the centre tail-feathers, formed by the bird itself, as detailed below. Mr. Waterton gives an account of the Motmots in Demerara, and he was the first to point out that the racket in the tail was produced by the bird’s own action. He writes:—“The Houtou ranks high in beauty amongst the birds of Demerara. His body is green, with a bluish cast in the wings and tail; his crown, which he erects at pleasure, consists of black in the centre, surrounded with lovely blue of two different shades; he has a triangular black spot, edged with blue, behind the eye, extending to the ear; and on his breast a sable tuft, consisting of nine feathers, edged also with blue. This bird seems to suppose that its beauty can be increased by trimming the tail, which undergoes the same operation as one’s hair in a barber’s shop, only with this difference, that it uses its own beak, which is serrated, in lieu of a pair of scissors. As soon as his tail is full-grown, he begins about an inch from the extremity of the two longest feathers in it, and cuts away the web on both sides of the shaft, making a gap about an inch long. Both male and female adonise their tails in this manner, which gives them a remarkable appearance amongst all other birds. While we consider the tail of the Houtou blemished and defective, were he to come amongst us, he would probably consider our heads, cropped and bald, in no better light. He who wishes to observe this handsome birdin his native haunts must be in the forest at the morning’s dawn. 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 on 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 among the underwood; and very rarely is seen in the lofty trees, except the bastard Siloabali-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.”
MOTMOT.
MOTMOT.
In confirmation of Mr. Waterton’s remarks, a paper was published by Mr. Osbert Salvin in the “Proceedings of the Zoological Society” for 1873 (p. 429):—“Some years ago (1860) this Society possessed a specimen ofMomotus subrufescens, which lived in one of the large cages of the parrot-house all by itself. I have a very distinct recollection of the bird; for I used every time I saw it to cheer it up a bit by whistling such of its notes as I had picked up in the forests of America. The bird always seemed to appreciate this attention; for though it never replied, it became at once animated, hopped about the cage, and swung its tail from side to side like the pendulum of a clock. For a long time its tail had perfect spatules; but towards the end of its life I noticed that the median feathers were no longer trimmed with such precision; and on looking at its beak I noticed that from some cause or other it did notclose properly, but gaped slightly at the tip, and had thus become unfitted for removing the vanes of the feathers. Since the subject has been revived by Dr. Murie, it occurred to me that Mr. Bartlett could hardly have failed to watch this bird during its moults, and whilst the tail-feathers were growing. I accordingly wrote to him, and received the following reply:—
‘DEARSIR,—During the several years the Motmot lived here I had many opportunities of watching its habits; andI have seen the bird in the act of picking off the webs of the central feathers of its tail, and have taken from the bottom of the cage the fragments of web that fell from the bird’s bill. As the birdlived here for some years, its bill got rather out of order, that is, it did not close properly at the point; and consequently the picking off the web at last was imperfectly performed, and the two sides of the tail-feather presented an unequal and unfinished appearance. I noticed also that the Motmot frequently threw up castings, after the manner of the Kingfishers and other birds that swallow indigestible substances.—Yours faithfully, A. D. BARTLETT.’
TAIL-FEATHERS OF MOTMOT. (From the Proceedings of the Zoological Society.)(A) Tail ofM. lessoni: two Central Rectrices shaded; (B) Tail ofM. mexicanus: the Central Rectrices, not fully grown, are shaded; (C) Tail ofM. lessoni, with stems of Central Rectrices partially denuded; (D) Tail ofP. platyrhynchus, with Central Rectrices not symmetrical.
TAIL-FEATHERS OF MOTMOT. (From the Proceedings of the Zoological Society.)
(A) Tail ofM. lessoni: two Central Rectrices shaded; (B) Tail ofM. mexicanus: the Central Rectrices, not fully grown, are shaded; (C) Tail ofM. lessoni, with stems of Central Rectrices partially denuded; (D) Tail ofP. platyrhynchus, with Central Rectrices not symmetrical.
“The point is further elucidated by the examination of skins in our collection. We have a number of specimens of various species in which the central tail-feathers were growing when the birds were shot. The drawings now exhibited show some of them. FigureArepresents the tail of a youngMomotus lessoniin its first plumage. The central tail-feathers are here untouched; they merely show the reduction in the breadth of the web in the part which is subsequently denuded. Of this more anon. FigureBshows the growing feathers of the tail of a specimen ofMomotus mexicanus; in this a few vanes have been removed from the left-hand feather. FigureCshows the process of denudation still further advanced. In all these three birds it will be noticed that the feathers in question have grown symmetrically, both being of nearly equal length. FigureDrepresents the tail of aPrionirhynchus platyrhynchus, where these feathers have not grown symmetrically, but the left-hand one has been developed sooner than the right-hand one. What has happened? The bird expecting to find two feathers upon which to operate has commenced to nibble not only the left central rectrix, but also the next rectrix on the right-hand side! But it seems to have not felt very certain about the state of its tail, for it has wandered off to one of the others, and commenced nibbling it also. When, however, the proper right-hand feather appeared, these mistakes have been discovered, and the work recommenced in the usual way. I can interpret in no other way the state in which the feathers on the right-hand side of the tail of this bird appear.”