NOTES ON HOATZINS 



175 



Photo by P. G. H. 

 FIG. 44. YOUNG HOATZIN ATTEMPTING TO PROGRESS ON SOLID GROUND. 



kicked out helplessly behind. In this mode of progress it 

 closely resembled a sloth on solid ground. 



If a single straight twig were brought within reach, the 

 head was crooked over it to such an extent that the bill was 

 upside down and the upper neck bent into a complete circle. 

 With this grip once secured the bird hung suspended, and 

 reached frantically upward with feet and wings, the feet 

 nearer the head, the wings farther away. Usually a claw 

 on the fore-finger was the first to catch. This secured, the 

 long middle toe of the opposite foot curled around the stem. 

 Straining steadily, the little bird chinned itself and for 

 a moment stood upright. The head loosened and rose in 

 mid-air, the wing claws uncurled and the skinny pinions 

 reached toward the sky. It was an epitome of its past evolu- 

 tion ; it was a bird at last. 



