H0RNB1LLS. 367 



flight it avails itself of every opportunity of alighting, thinking, like the unfortunate people 

 who live in the courts of royalty, that to sit whenever it gets a chance is the wisest course of 

 conduct. 



This duplicate kind of movement extends to its feet as well as its wings. Sometimes it 

 will take a lazy fit, and will sit in a lumpish, drowsy position, as if it were one of the slowest 

 birds among the feathered tribes, its body all huddled up, and its head sunk between its 

 shoulders. But when roused, it leaps in a single instant from this apathetic condition into 

 graceful vivacity, every movement full of life and sparkling energy, traversing the boughs 

 with wonderful speed, its head and neck being darted in every direction, like that of a snake, 

 its crest rapidly raised and depressed, its eyes full of light, and its voice uttering loud and 

 animated cries. 



The voice of this and other Plantain-eaters is always of a loud character. It is quite as 

 shy as its comrades, concealing itself in the same effective manner, and displaying more than 

 ordinary precaution when in the vicinity of human habitations. The nest of this bird is made 

 in the hollow of some decaying tree. The general color of this bird is dark blue, marked with 

 verditer-green. The crest is almost black, the abdomen is greenish, and the thighs chestnut. 



The remarkable bird known by the name of Hoatzin, or Chested ToupvAco, is the sole 

 example of the family or sub-family, as the case may be, to which it belongs. Its exact place 

 in the catalogue of birds is rather unsettled, some authors considering it to belong to the 

 poultry, or the gallinaceous birds, and others looking upon it as one of the true Passerines. 



It is a very fine bird, being nearly as large as a peacock, and having somewhat of the same 

 gait and mode of carriage. The peculiar construction of the foot, the outer toe of which can- 

 not be turned backward, has induced zoologists of the present day to separate it from the 

 plantain-eaters, and to consider it as a unique representative of a sub-family. 



This bird is a native of tropical America, being found in Guiana and the Brazils, where it 

 leads a gregarious life, assembling together in large flocks, on the banks of creeks and rivers. 

 Although so closely resembling the gallinaceous birds in general appearance and habits, its 

 flesh is, fortunately for itself, quite uneatable, being impregnated with a strong and peculiar 

 odor that deters any but a starving man from making a meal upon it. Perhaps this odor 

 may be caused by its food, which consists almost wholly of the leaves of the arum. 



The nest of the Hoatzin is made in the lower part of a tree, and is composed exteriorly of 

 slender twigs, and interiorly of mosses and other soft substances. The eggs are about three 

 or four in number, and their color is grayish-white, besprinkled with red spots. The head of 

 this species is adorned with a tuft of elongated and narrow feathers. Its color is brown above, 

 striped with white, and the breast and throat are light brown washed with gray. The abdomen 

 is deep chestnut, and the tail tipped with white. The bill is short, thick, very convex, and 

 bent downwards at the tip. 



HO RN B : LLS. 



There are many strange and wonderful forms anions; the feathered tribes ; but there are, 

 perhaps, none which more astonish the beholder who sees them for the first time, than the 

 group of birds known by the name of Hoiinbills. 



They are all distinguished by a very large beak, to which is added a singular helmet-like 

 appendage, equalling the beak itself in some species, while in others it is so small as to attract 

 but little notice. On account of the enormous size of the beak and the helmet, which in some 

 species recede to the crown of the head, the bird appears to be overweighted by the mass of 

 horny substance which it has to carry ; but on a closer investigation, the whole structure is 

 found to be singularly light, and yet very strong. 



