BIRDS THAT KEEP ORDER 125 



curious South American bird the cariama, a 

 creature which looks and behaves like nothing 

 else that wears feathers. It has a strong 

 crow-like beak, and, like a crow, feeds mostly 

 on insects and small animals, and anything 

 too big to be swallowed whole, it holds down 

 with its foot and tears in a very crow-like 

 fashion ; yet in other ways it is not at all 

 crow-like. It has the long legs, bare above the 

 hock, of a wading-bird, but it does not wade, 

 or even wash. Its hind-toe is so short that it 

 is no use in holding on to a perch, yet the 

 bird roosts on one at night, though it spends 

 most of its time on the ground ; and it also 

 nests in trees and bushes. Its short wings are 

 like those of a pheasant or partridge, but its 

 real relationships are rather with the large- 

 winged cranes. It is the only bird which will 

 lie sprawling on its back, or nearly so, in the 

 sun, and is altogether a puzzle, with no near 

 relations but one, for there are only two kinds 

 of cariama known. 



One of this queer bird's eccentricities is 

 the idea of making other birds behave, as I 

 have said ; it is easily tamed, and when kept 

 among other birds has the reputation of doing 



