The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1892-02-04
THE MOT-MOT.

A Rare and Curious Bird That Acts as Its
Own Barber.
The parrot-house is always well
worth visit, and were its inmates less
noisy would no doubt be much more
frequented than it is, as it contains not
only an excellent collection of parrots
OF all sorts and sizes, but also many
other very beautiful and interesting
birds At the present time, however, a
bird of more than ordinary interest is
to be seen in this house, which, though
not new to the collection" will GER
tainly be new to a very large majority
of the present visitors to the zoo. as 1t
is very long time-how long we can
not say with certainty. but at least
twenty years-since the last specimen
died here. The bird in question is a
mot-mot, presented about week since,
and is to be seen in the large cage
nearest to the keepers room.
1t has not yet been labeled, but is,
we believe, '.Momotus brasiliensis" 1t
is an extremely striking, though not
very brilliantly colored, bird. about the
size of jay, with long tail; its bright
est color, a most beautiful blue, forms
band round the crown of its head,
which is black, and there are smaller
patches on its cheeks; 1t has bold,
bright eye, the iris of which is red
It's tail, however, is without doubt its
most noticeable feature, not so much
from its length and color as from the
extraordinary habit the bird possesses,
especially, it would seem. when ex-
cited, of swinging it from side to side
after the manner, and with the regu-
larity Of the pendulum of clock, occa-
sionally varying the monotony OF the
proceeding by jerking it straight up
over its back an odd habit, calculated
to attract the attention Of the least OBJ
servant
The motmot's tail has the further
popularity that the two middle feath-
ers, which are longer than the others,
are racket-shaped at the end-that is to
say, that for about an inch the feather
is perfect and then for another inch,
or rather more, the shaft Is entirely de-
nuded of web. This popularity has
given rise to some controversy, one
side contending that 1t is natural,
cial, being caused by the bird itself.
Waterton' first drew attention to the
fact that the bird acted rs it's own bar
Der, and described the process as fol-
lows: This bird (the mot-mot or
houtou, as he called it.) seems to sup
pose that its beauty can be increased
by trimming the tail, which undergoes
the. same operation as ones hair in q
BARRIERS shop, only with this differ
is serrated, in lieu of pair of scissors.
As soon as its tail is full grown it be-
gins about an inch from the extremity
Of the two longest feathers in it, maxi
ing gap about an inch long. Both
male and female adonise their tails in
this manner. which gives them re-
markable appearance among all other
birds. While we consider the tail Of
the houtou blemished and defective,
were he to come among us he would
probably consider our heads cropped
and bald, in no better light"
DIR. Murie, writing on the other side,
said:
1.-THE story has found credence that
they nibble of the occasionally absent
vanes Of the long middle tail feathers.
but this notion has been contradicted. =
This brought forth reply from Mr..
Salvin, which can be. found in the
..Proceedings Of the Geological Soci-
ety. for 1878. and which appears to us
to be conclusive. He tells us that he
noticed specimen which lived in one
OF the cages In the parrot-housc all by
itself, and adds: For . long time its
tail had perfect spatules. but toward
the end OF its life 1 noticed that the
median feathers were no longer
trimmed with such precision. and on
looking at It's beak noticed that from
sone cause or other, It did not close
properly. but gaped eighty Ct the Zip.