OPISTHOCOMUS. 59 



them on the ground, nor feeding on the low ^Yeedy growths on its 

 surface. 



" Almost invariabl}-, where one or other of the three mentioned 

 plants formed the nearly continuous growth by the water, the 

 birds there shot contained in their crops only the leaves (or 

 fruit) of that plant ; but where the plants were mingled, some- 

 times one and sometimes another had been eaten. 



" This dense lining growth furnishes the home of the birds. In 

 the early morning or the late afternoon the}' will be seen sitting 

 in numbers on the plants; while towards the middle of the day, 

 as the fierce heat of the sun increases, they betake themselves to 

 shelter, either in the denser recesses of the growths, or among the 

 individual trees of denser foliage, or among the tangled masses of 

 creeping and climbing vines, which frequently spread over con- 

 siderable areas of their food-plants along the very edge of the 

 water. At this time one may pass, by boat, along the river 

 without the faintest idea of the proximity of the birds, unless 

 a very sharp watch be kept up among the more leafy growths, or 

 unless the report of a gun causes them to utter their curious cry. 

 Late in the evening, after feeding, they will be seen settling 

 themselves down in suitable places for the night. 



"The cry of the Hoatzin is easily heard when they are dis- 

 turbed, and it is one of which it is not easv to i>ive an exact iJea. 

 It recalls slightly the shrill screech of the Guinea-bird {JCumidu), 

 but is made up of disjointed utterances, like the notes ' heigh' or 

 ' sheigh ^ (ei as in 'sleigh'), pronounced with a peculiarly sharp 

 and shrill nasal intonation, so as to be quite hiss-like. AMiile 

 they are treading, the noise made is considerable, the cry being 

 more continuous and shriek-like. 



" Whether from the fact of their occupying situations where 

 they are seldom disturbed or but little likely of being pursued, or 

 from a natural weakness of wing, the birds are but seldom seen in 

 flight ; and when they take to the wing during disturbance, they 

 do so but for very short distances — a very exceptional flight being 

 once observed of a length of about forty yards with the wind, 

 across a creek, from a high growth on one bank to a loNvcr k-vtd 

 on the other. Usually ihey rise almost with a jump from the 

 branch, seldom in a straight line, but with a marked convex curve 

 to the point where they alight. Tlie fliglit of the birds, iji spite 

 uf their great expanse of wings in relation to tiie weight of tlie 



