528 ANNUAL. REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1910. 



sible to indicate its correct position in a linear classification. In such 

 artificial, two-plane, genealogical trees it has been variously placed 

 between the game birds and the rails; between the pigeons and the 

 rails; while it has certain affinities with the plantain eaters, and the 

 vestigial claw on the third digit links it with the primitive Archae- 

 opteryx. 



Another claim to a primitive condition is found in the quadrupedal 

 habits of the young. These, by means of unusually developed fore 

 limb and fingers, and external claws on the first and second fingers, 

 are able to climb actively about the bushes. They also swim and 

 dive well. 



HISTORY. 



More than 250 years ago Hernandez, in his Nova Plantarum, Ani- 

 malium et Mineralium Mexicanorum Historia (22), makes the first 

 authentic mention of the hoatzin, writing in Latin as follows: 



The hoatzin, a bird uttering a curious note, sounding like its name. 



This is a bird of about the size of an Indian fowl. Its beak is curved; its 

 breast shades from white to buff; its wings and tail are spotted with white 

 at intervals of a thumb's length ; tbe back of the upper part of its neck is 

 yellow, shading into blackish on both sides and sometimes extending as far as 

 the beak and eyes; the claws are black and the legs blackish. The bird bears 

 a sturdy crest of feathers, varying from white to yellowish, the back of each 

 feather, however, being black. The bird subsists upon snakes. It has a power- 

 ful voice, which resembles a howling or wailing sound. It is heard in the 

 autumn and is held inauspicious by the natives. 



The bones of this bird relieve the pain of wounds in any part of the human 

 body ; the odor of the plumage restores hope to those who, from disease, are 

 steadily wasting away. The ashes of the feathers when devoured relieve the 

 gallic sickness, acting in a wonderful manner. 



The bird lives in warm regions, such as Yauhtepeceusis, generally establish- 

 ing itself in trees growing along the banks of the streams, where we, having 

 observed it, captured it, and making a drawing of it, kept it alive. 



With the exception of the description, which is fairly accurate, this 

 quotation is interesting chiefly because of its characteristically medie- 

 val superstition. 



One hundred years after the account of Hernandez, Brisson (11) 

 wrote a vague and plagiarized description of the New World bird 

 which he called Le Hocco Brun de Mexique (Crax fuscus mexicanus) . 

 He said : 



It is nearly as large as a female turkey. Its head bears a crest composed of 

 feathers which are yellowish-white above and black below. The sides of the 

 head, the upper part of the neck and back are reddish-brown. The breast is 

 yellowish-white. The wings and tail are varied with white and yellow, and 

 that by spots of a thumb's length. The feet are brown and the claws black. 

 It feeds on serpents. It is found in Mexico, and chiefly in the hottest parts. 

 It perches on the trees which are found along the rivers. 



The final sentence is admirable, but as the bird is a vegetarian and 

 is not found in Mexico, and as Brisson seemed rather color blind, 



