318 The Fowl-like Birds 



and abdomen, while the tail is broadly tipped with yellowish white ; the sexes 

 are alike. The skeleton and soft parts of the Hoactzin exhibit a number of 

 remarkable features which are quite unknown in other birds. Thus the breast- 

 bone has two lateraj edges parallel for two thirds the length and then divergent, 

 so that it is actually wider behind than in front. The keel is only developed 

 on the posterior part of the sternum, the front portion being aborted or cut 

 away, a condition which has been apparently brought about by the pressure 

 of the enormous crop, which has also excavated a deep cavity in the surface 

 of the great pectoral muscles. " Furthermore," says Newton, " this crop is ex- 

 tremely muscular, so as more to resemble a gizzard, and consists of two portions 

 divided by a partial constriction, after a fashion of which no other example 

 is known among birds." In addition to these peculiarities, the bones of the 

 shoulder girdle are completely fused to one another and to the breast-bone. 



The home of the Hoactzin is in the northern and western portions of South 

 America, from Colombia to Bolivia, but especially in the country watered by the 

 Amazon. It is met with mainly on low trees and bushes along the shores of 

 streams and lakes, in flocks usually of from ten to twenty individuals, and, as 

 might be premised from the above enumeration of skeletal characters, it enjoys 

 but weak powers of flight. "In the early morning or in the late afternoon," 

 says Quelch, " they will be seen sitting in numbers on the plants, while toward 

 the middle of the day, as the fierce heat of the sun increases, they betake them- 

 selves to shelter, either in the dense recesses of the growth, or among the indi- 

 vidual trees of denser foliage, or among the tangled masses of creeping and 

 climbing vines, along the very edge of the water. Late in the evening, after feed- 

 ing, they will be seen settling themselves down in suitable places for the night." 

 They feed almost entirely upon leaves, of which they consume great quantities, 

 especially of an arum, which imparts to the flesh a very strong, disagreeable 

 odor, whence the bird is often called the "Stink-bird" or "Stinking Pheas- 

 ant." The nest of the Hoactzin is a rude affair of sticks loosely laid together 

 and placed in bushes near the water, while the eggs, usually two or three in 

 number, are oval, yellowish white profusely blotched and spotted with reddish. 

 The young are hatched almost naked and have the thumb and index finger pro- 

 vided with claws by means of which they are enabled soon after birth to clamber 

 about among the branches, thus making the nearest approach m appearance to 

 a quadruped found among existing birds. In a valuable contribution on the 

 weapons and wings of birds, Mr. F. A. Lucas says: "Soon after the hatching of 

 the eggs the nestlings begin to crawl about by means of their wings and legs, the 

 well-developed claws on the pollux and index being constantly in use for holding 

 and hooking to surrounding objects. If they are drawn from the nest by means 

 of their legs, they hold on firmly to the twigs both with bill and wings; and if 

 the nest be upset by means of a rod pushed up from below, they hold on to all 

 objects with which they come in contact by means of bill, feet, and wings, mak- 

 ing considerable use of the bill, not only to reach objects above them, but also, 

 with the help of the clawed wings, to raise themselves to a higher level. When 

 the parent bird is driven from the nest, owing to the close approach of a boat, 



