148 



The Stork-like Birds 



tracts very narrow, and the inner edge of the middle claw distinctly pectinated. 

 The possession of a long nuchal crest by the Boat-bills seems another mark of 

 relationship with the Night Herons. 



The plumage of the South American species is a delicate lavender-gray 

 above, the upper mantle with a broad band of black extending a little way down 

 its sides, the wing-quills hoary gray or whitish, and the lower back, rump, upper 

 tail-coverts and tail hoary gray, while the crown and crest are blue -black, the 

 forehead white, the sides of the face, throat, and chest white, becoming delicate 

 lavender-gray along the sides, and the breast and abdomen dark cinnamon- 

 rufous; the eyes are large and dark, the upper mandible dark brown, and the 

 lower mandible clear yellow, while the feet are dull or dirty yellow. The Cen- 

 tral American species (C. zeledoni) is similar to the other except that it is larger, 

 the general coloration much darker and browner, the crest much shorter, and 

 has the throat and breast pale vinous or light tawny. 



Notwithstanding the fact that the Boat-bills are very widely distributed and 

 have been known to science for upward of one hundred and fifty years, com- 

 paratively little appears to have been re- 

 corded concerning their life history. They 

 appear to associate in small flocks or colonies 

 and to frequent the mangrove swamps, being 

 apparently nocturnal in their habits. Thus 

 Salvin records finding the more northern 

 species on the Cays of British Honduras and 

 in Guatemala, skulking in the mangroves, and 

 Mr. C. C. Nutting found them in similar sit- 

 uations in Costa Rica, while Dr. Richmond 

 observed several colonies on the Rio Frio, 

 Costa Rica. Mr. E. A. Goldman, who has 

 seen them at a number of points in Central 

 America, regards the Boat-bill as a stupid, 

 dull bird, permitting one to approach within 

 a dozen or fifteen feet, and whdn taking wing 

 only flying for a few yards to skulk among 

 the tangled undergrowth. The note is de- 

 scribed as a harsh croak or squawk. The 

 nest and eggs appear to be unknown. 



As already hinted, even the casual observer would doubtless be struck at 

 once by the strong albeit somewhat superficial resemblance between the 

 members of the present family and the great African Shoe-bill, the sole tenant 

 of the succeeding family; but when the structural characters are compared it is 

 found to be rather a case of "converging analogy" than actual affinity. "At 

 first sight," says Dr. Stejneger, "the Cochlearius seems to represent a pygmy 

 Balaeniceps, between the legs of which it can stand upright without bending its 

 neck, but even the outward likeness between the two bills is, on nearer inspec- 

 tion, by no means so great as would appear at first sight." Although Professor 



FIG. 47. Boat-bill, Cochlearius coch- 

 learius. 



