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OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. 



on the branches in pairs close together. On moonlight 

 nights however they were active and noisy, and came into 

 the open to feed. The habit of crouching or settling down on 

 the perch is very common with the Hoatzins, and it may 

 be due to the weakness of the feet and toes. I am inclined 



FIG. 153. (B) FEMALE HOATZIN TN THE SAME POSITION, THE MALE HAV- 

 ING FLOWN NEARER. 



however to consider it in connection with the general awk- 

 wardness in alighting and climbing, as a hint of the unadapta- 

 bility of the large feet to the small size of the twigs and 

 branches among which they live. Inexplicable though it may 

 appear, the Hoatzin although evidently unchanged in many 

 respects through long epochs yet is far from being per- 

 fectly adapted to its present environment. It has a severe 



