THE HOATZINS. 26 1 



mass of dried twigs and sticks taken from the plants on which 

 they are built, and loosely laid on top and across each other, 

 are placed in conspicuous positions high up over the water or 

 soft mud, on the top of or amongst the bushy growth, where 

 they are fully exposed to the direct sunshine. Almost invari- 

 ably the plants thus built on were the close-2;rowintj ' Bun- 

 doorie pimpler,' though in a few cases I have seen them on 

 the Courida, and on a Pimpler (or prickly) palm {Bactris 

 major). . . . 



" From the binding nature of the spiny twigs, the nests last 

 for a considerable time, and these are certainly made use of 

 again, possibly after more or less repair. The same nest has 

 been found in use after an interval of seven months. 



" Two or three eggs are laid in a nest, both numbers being 

 about equally common in my experience, and in one special 

 case six eggs were taken from a nest on which one bird had 

 been sitting, but whether they had been laid by one or two 

 birds there was nothing to show. The eggs are easily seen 

 from beneath the nest, owing to its loose structure. . . . 

 Even while the birds are sitting on them the eggs must be kept 

 fairly cool from below ; and this evidently gives the explana- 

 tion why a number of freshly-laid eggs that were placed to be 

 hatched out by a common fowl exploded one after another, 

 much to the alarm of the foster-parent, who, however, stuck to 

 the nest with the remainder after each occurrence. 



" Soon after the hatching of the eggs, the nestlings begin to 

 crawl about by means of their wings and legs, the well- 

 developed claws on the pollex and index being constantly in 

 use for holding and hooking on to the surrounding objects. 

 If they are drawn from the nest by means of their legs they 

 hold on firmly to the twigs both by their bill and wings. 

 When the parent bird is driven from the nest owing to the 

 close approach of a boat, the young birds, unless they are 

 only quite recently hatched, crawl out of the nests on all fours, 

 and rapidly try to hide in the thicker bush behind. 



