NOTES UN HOATZINS 175 



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 oround. 



If a single straight twig were brouglit 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 awav. Usuallv 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. 



