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 Hoatzih, or Crested Touraco, 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 i t 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. 
HORNBILLS. 
1 There are many strange and wonderful forms among 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 Hornbills. 
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. 
