[a. F. Jacamar (Brisson, 1760), ad. Tupi-Guarani Jacama-ciri.] Any bird of the family Galbulidæ, natives of South America, having a general resemblance in appearance to the bee-eaters and in habits to the king-fishers.
[1648. Marcgrave, Hist. Nat. Brasil., 202. Iacamaciri Brasiliensibus, avis Alaudæ magnitudinis.]
1825. Waterton, Wand. S. Amer. (1882), 26. A bird called Jacamar is often taken for a kingfisher.
1834. H. M’Murtrie, Cuvier’s Anim. Kingd., 136. The Jacamars are closely allied to the kingfishers by their elongated sharp-pointed beak…. They are solitary birds, that live in wet forests, feed on insects, and build on low branches.
1896. Newton, Dict. Birds, Jacamar, a word formed by Brisson from Jacamaciri, the Brazilian name of a bird, as given by Marcgrave, and since adopted in most European tongues for the species to which it was first applied and others allied to it, forming the family Galbulidæ of ornithologists.
