The MOT-MOT (_Prionites momota_) is of an olive-green on the back,
wing-covers, and legs; the neck, throat, breast, and belly are reddish
yellow; the top of the head, cheeks, and bridles black; and the brow and
a narrow collar at the back of the head of a brilliant blueish green; the
quills are blackish, the secondaries sky-blue on the outer web. The tail,
which is composed of twelve feathers, is green above and black beneath;
the eye is reddish brown, the beak black, and the foot horn-grey. This
species is nineteen inches long; the wing measures six and a half inches,
and the tail eleven inches.
According to Burmeister, the Mot-mot inhabits the wooded districts in
Northern Brazil; and Schomburghk, who found them very numerous in Guiana,
had there an opportunity of observing their habits and mode of life.
"Shortly before sunrise," says the last-named writer, "the plaintive
and melancholy 'hutu, hutu' of the Saw-billed Roller may be heard among
the foliage on the outskirts of the forest, announcing the approach of
morning. This remarkable bird seems to avoid all well-lighted places;
and, although by no means shy, never appears beyond the outskirts of
the forest. It will even allow an intruder to come quite close to its
perching-place before it flies off to another twig, where, immediately
that it has perched itself, it again begins its well-known notes 'hutu,
hutu,' accompanying each syllable with a stroke of its tail somewhat after
the manner of our own Wagtail."
When about to construct its nest, the Mot-mot selects a round or oval
depression in the side of some hillock, or other elevated spot; and
although the male and female regularly relieve each other at short
intervals, the monotonous duty of incubation seems by no means agreeable
to either; so that after sitting for three or four minutes quietly upon
the eggs they begin to turn themselves round, and it is supposed to be by
the constant repetition of this movement in a circle that the feathers of
their tail become in time quite spoiled and worn away. As to their eggs,
Schomburghk gives us no information whatever, nor do we find anything
recorded concerning them in the works of other naturalists.
[Illustration: THE MOT-MOT (_Prionites momota_).]
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The BROAD-THROATS (_Eurylaimus_) are small, compact birds, with short,
broad beaks, powerful feet, moderate-sized wings, and short or rather long
tail. The beak, which is shorter than the head, is broad at its base,
slender at the tip, and hooked at its extremity; the gape extends as
far as the eyes; the moderate-sized foot has the tarsus a trifle longer
than the centre toe, which latter is united with the inner as far as the
first joint; the wing, in which the third or fourth quill is the longest,
is short and rounded; the tail is usually either rounded or graduated;
in some species, however, it is slightly incised; the plumage is of
brilliant hues, and the sexes almost alike in colour and markings. These
birds inhabit India and the Malay Islands, where they haunt the innermost
recesses of deep, dark forests, and carefully avoid the habitations of man.