NOTES ON HOATZINS 



165 



Photo by P. G. H. 

 FIG. 40. HOATZIN ON NEST CONTAINING TWO NESTLINGS. 



on a neck of extraordinary lengtli and thinness. No more 

 than this was needed to mark liis al)surd resemblance to some 

 strange, extinct reptile. A yonng dinosaur must have looked 

 much like this, while for all that my glance revealed, I might 

 have been looking at a diminutive Galapagos tortoise. In- 

 deed this simile came to mind often when I became more 

 intimate with nestling hoatzins. Sam, my black tree climber, 

 kicked off his shoes and began creeping along the horizontal 

 limbs of the pimplers. At each step he felt carefully with 

 each calloused sole in order to avoid the longer of the cruel 

 thorns, and punctuated every yard with some gasp of pain 

 or muttered personal prayer, "Pleas' doan' stick me, 

 Thorns!" At last his hand touched the branch, and it shook 

 slightly. The young bird stretched his mittened hands high 

 above his head and waved them a moment. With similar 



