ECOLOGY OF THE HOATZIN BEEBE. 535 



FIELD NOTES IN VENEZUELA. 



The first view which Mrs. Beebe and I had of living hoatzins was 



2 miles up the Rio Guarapiche, in southeastern Venezuela, where 

 we found a flock of 8 on March 27, 1908. Farther up we discovered 



3 smaller flocks and later in the day a large assemblage of 25 indi- 

 viduals. The natives know them by the name of Guacharacas de 

 Aqua and are well acquainted with the musky odor which emanates 

 from their bodies. Being considered totally unfit for food, they are 

 never killed and as a result have become extremely unsuspicious. 



The following notes were written in the field : 



The moment our dugout comes into view the hoatzins announce 

 their presence by hoarse, croaking cries; grating and rasping to the 

 ear like an unoiled wheel. Then, as we approach, those nearest flop 

 or crawl inward through the branches, making a tremendous racket. 

 This utterance has been termed a " hissing screech " by some writers, 

 and although a very poor description of the sound, no better one 

 comes to mind unless it is a croaking hiss. Buffon (13) tells us " Its 

 voice is very strong, and it is less a cry than a howl." Quelch (38) 

 says " The cry of the hoatzin is usually heard when they are dis- 

 turbed, and it is one of which is not easy to give an exact idea. It 

 recalls slightly the shrill screech of the guinea bird (Numida), but 

 it is made up of disjointed utterancesf like the notes heigh and sheigh 

 (ei as in sleigh), pronounced with a peculiarly sharp and shrill in- 

 tonation, so as to be quite hisslike." The reckless way of thrashing 

 through the undergrowth, and the apparent looseness of wing and 

 tail and general carelessness of plumage bring to mind the crazy 

 antics of anis, a fact not wholly uninteresting when we recall certain 

 hints of cuculine structure in the hoatzin. 



Except during the extreme heat of midday the hoatzins prefer 

 conspicuous positions overhanging the water on mangroves or other 

 trees, among the foliage of which they roost at night. They appear 

 to be extremely sedentary, and day after day we could be sure of 

 finding the birds in the same place. We located 9 flocks, ranging 

 from a single pair to 42 birds in number, and these seemed never to 

 move from their favorite trees except when driven back a few yards 

 into the jungle by our intruding canoe. 



In these same trees over the water we found remains of many nests 

 in various stages of disintegration. As the number of the nests bore 

 a fairly accurate relation to the pairs of birds, and as we saw these 

 large, rough platforms of sticks at no other points, circumstantial 

 evidence would indicate that the sedentary life of these hoatzins is 

 seasonal, if not, indeed, annual. We were told that they nest in 

 May and June in this locality. 



