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Show 430 MR. o. SALVIN O N T H E TAIL-FEATHERS O F M O M O T U S . [Apr. 1, On this point I have evidence to bring forward which can hardly leave a doubt that Waterton's account of the Motmot nibbling off the vanes thus is substantially true. Some years ago (1860) this Society possessed a specimen of Momotus 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 not close properly, but gaped slightly at the tip, and had thus become unfitted for removing the vanes of the feathers. Since tbe 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:- " Zoological Society's Gardens, Eegent's Park, London, N.W. November 21, 1872. " D E A R SIR,-During the several years the Motmot lived here I had many opportunities of watching its habits ; and I 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 its cage the fragments of web that fell from the bird's bill. As the bird lived here 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, "Osbert Salvin, Esq." "A. D. B A R T L E T T ." "P.S. The species we had alive was, I believe, Momotus subrufescens." The point is further elucidated by the examination of skins in our collection. W e 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. Figure 1 (p. 431) represents the tail of a young Momotus lessoni in its first plumage: the central tail-feathers are here untouched ; they merely show tbe reduction in the breadth of the web in the part which is subsequently denuded; of this more anon. Figure 2 shows the growing feathers of the tail of a specimen of Momotus mexicanus ; in this a few vanes have |
