CH. ix YOUTH, MATURITY, AND AGE 287 



a distinct group. All his near kindred have passed 

 away, and he stands solitary, a living fossil, the only 

 survivor of a number of families that have either 

 disappeared, too primitive to hold their own, or have 

 advanced to a higher organisation. 



Apparently about as large as a rather under-sized 

 Pheasant, the Hoatzin is really considerably smaller ; 

 his long tail, his large wings, and his crest suggest a 

 larger bulk of body than he really possesses. He and 

 his kind are born from eggs that are usually smaller 

 than a hen's, but which vary much in size. His breast- 

 bone has a very slight development of keel, and that 

 only in its hinder part, and the clavicles, from the 

 point where they meet, send back a long bone which 

 looks remarkably like a reptilian interclavicle. Among 

 the trees and bushes that form a jungle-growth along 

 the banks of the Berbice and often overhang its waters, 

 Hoatzins are plentiful. When a boat passes they will 

 generally remain concealed among the leaves. They 

 seldom fly, their large wings having but weak muscles 

 to move them. The longest observed flight was no 

 longer than forty yards, and that with a considerable 

 descent, from a high growth on one bank to a lower one 

 on the other. Mere jumps or the very shortest flights 

 are more usual when the crack of a gun disturbs them. 

 The food consists, as far as is known, entirely of leaves : 

 they are crushed in the crop, which is formed of thick 

 walls of muscles with outstanding ridges. The nest 

 is formed of a few sticks intertwisted. When the 

 birds'-nester comes, cutting a way for his boat 

 through the bushes, or wading thigh-deep through the 

 mud, the old bird makes off upon the wing. The 



