126 THE BIRDS OF BRITISH GUIANA. 



the Bill-birds, the Cotingas, the Firebirds, the Jacamars and 

 such-like species give utterance to notes by no means sweet 

 — in fact it might be said that the notes of the most striking 

 of our voice-birds are quaint, discordant and harsh, or 

 mysterious and ghostly, as will be recognized by any one 

 who ever hears the cry of the Hannaqua or What-o'clock 

 {Ortalis motmof), the Bultata {Ibycter americana), the Calf- 

 bird {Gymnocephaliis calvus), the Giant Night-Jar {JVyctibius 

 grandis), or the Who-are-you {Nydidromus albicollis). It must 

 not be imagined, however, that none of the tropical birds are 

 sweet singers, for the notes of the native Thrushes, the 

 Wrens, and many of the Tanagers and Hang-nests are ex- 

 tremely sweet — the members of the two latter groups combin- 

 ing both beauty and song. The notes of the tropical Wrens, in 

 fact, are far and away beyond those of their temperate 

 brothers ; and the cheeriness and sweetness of their notes, 

 resounding through the gardens and houses, where they will 

 perch and carol quite close to man, have earned them the 

 common name also of "God-bird," The commonest cry 

 heard in Guiana, at any rate in the open lands and cleared 

 parts of the coast, is the harsh challenge of the common 

 Tyrant-shrike {Pitangus su/phuratus), whose " Qu'est-ce 

 qu'il dit " is to be recognized at all parts of the day. 



Most curious of all our birds, however, in structure, 

 habits, affinities and food relations, it must be borne in 

 mind, is the Hoatzin {Opisthocovius cristattcs) already re- 

 ferred to; and whose reptilian affinities have earned for it 

 the distinctive title of the " Reptilian Bird." Quite recently 

 the full relations of this bird have been made out, and papers 

 on these points will be found in recent numbers of the 

 Transactions and Proceedings of the Zoological Society of 

 London, The " Ibis," and " Timehri " (Guiana). The 

 presence (i) of well developed ungues on the wings, which 

 are, on this account, grasping organs or legs, and are func- 

 tional until the growth of the feathers when they disappear 

 by disuse, (2) of a posterior carina sterni adapted for the 



