sible to indicate its correct position in a linear classification. In such artificial, two-plane, genealogical trees it has been variously placed between the game birds and the rails; between the pigeons and the rails; while it has certain affinities with the plantain eaters, and the vestigial claw on the third digit links it with the primitive Archaeopteryx.

Another claim to a primitive condition is found in the quadrupedal habits of the young. These, by means of unusually developed fore limb and fingers, and external claws on the first and second fingers, are able to climb actively about the bushes. They also swim and dive well.

HISTORY.

More than 250 years ago Hernandez, in his Nova Plantarum, Animalium et Mineralium Mexicanorum Historia (22), makes the first authentic mention of the hoatzin, writing in Latin as follows:

The hoatzin, a bird uttering a curious note, sounding like its name. This is a bird of about the size of an Indian fowl. Its beak is curved; its breast shades from white to buff; its wings and tail are spotted with white at intervals of a thumb's length; the back of the upper part of its neck is yellow, shading into blackish on both sides and sometimes extending as far as the beak and eyes; the claws are black and the legs blackish. The bird bears a sturdy crest of feathers, varying from white to yellowish, the back of each feather, however, being black. The bird subsists upon snakes. It has a powerful voice, which resembles a howling or wailing sound. It is heard in the autumn and is held inauspicious by the natives.

The bones of this bird relieve the pain of wounds in any part of the human body; the odor of the plumage restores hope to those who, from disease, are steadily wasting away. The ashes of the feathers when devoured relieve the gallic sickness, acting in a wonderful manner.

The bird lives in warm regions, such as Yauhtepeceusis, generally establishing itself in trees growing along the banks of the streams, where we, having observed it, captured it, and making a drawing of it, kept it alive.

With the exception of the description, which is fairly accurate, this quotation is interesting chiefly because of its characteristically medieval superstition.

One hundred years after the account of Hernandez, Brisson (11) wrote a vague and plagiarized description of the New World bird which he called Le Hocco Brun de Mexique (Crax fuscus mexicanus). He said:

It is nearly as large as a female turkey. Its head bears a crest composed of feathers which are yellowish-white above and black below. The sides of the head, the upper part of the neck and back are reddish-brown. The breast is yellowish-white. The wings and tail are varied with white and yellow, and that by spots of a thumb's length. The feet are brown and the claws black. It feeds on serpents. It is found in Mexico, and chiefly in the hottest parts. It perches on the trees which are found along the rivers.

The final sentence is admirable, but as the bird is a vegetarian and is not found in Mexico, and as Brisson seemed rather color blind,

little can be said as to the remainder of the quotation, which I offer merely from the interest attaching to very early accounts.

As in the above instance, the inaccuracies of the pioneer ornithologist Hernandez have been repeated, and, indeed, enlarged upon by succeeding authors. Thus Latham (26) 23 years later informs us that the "Crested pheasant" inhabits

Mexico and parts adjacent, where it feeds on snakes; makes a howling kind of noise, and is found in trees near rivers; is accounted an unlucky bird. Met with chiefly in the autumn, and is said to pronounce a sound not unlike the word "Hoactzin." We learn from others that it may be domesticated, and is seen in that state among the natives; and further that it feeds on ants, worms, and other insects, as well as snakes.

In 1819, about 60 years after Brisson's account, Stephens (47) vouchsafes the following information concerning the "Hoatzin serpent eater":

It inhabits Guiana, and is found on trees near rivers; its food consists of grains and seeds; it will also eat insects and serpents; it has a howling, disagreeable note; its flesh has a very disagreeable smell (probably caused by the quality of its food) and is consequently not eaten, but is used by the fishermen to catch certain fishes.

Even the writings of recent observers on the spot, with every opportunity for good observation, are in some instances totally misleading. For example, Penard (34) tells us that hoatzins run rapidly on the ground, swim well, and "leven in groote troepen van honderden individuen."

NAME.

Müller (28) called the bird Phasianus hoazin, and although it was soon removed from that genus, his specific name still stands accepted. The name hoatzin, hoazin, or hoactzin, as it is variously spelled, refers to Hernandez's (22) account, of which Buffon (13) says:

Its voice is very strong, and it is less a cry than a howl. It is said that it pronounces its name (hoatzin) apparently in a sad and mournful tone. It is no longer necessary to make it pass with the common people for a bird of ill omen; and since everywhere a great deal of power is assigned to that which is feared, the same people have thought to find in it remedies for the gravest maladies. But it is not said that they feed themselves on it. They abstain from it in fact, perhaps as a result of the same fear, or because of a repugnance founded on the fact that it makes its ordinary food of serpents. It stays usually in the great forests, perched on the trees along the water, for watching and surprising these reptiles. It is found in the hottest parts of Mexico. Hernandez adds that it appears in autumn, so that it is a migratory bird. Mr. Aublet assures me that these birds become tame; that they are sometimes seen in captivity in the houses of the Indians; and that Francois called them peafowl. They feed their young on ants, worms, and other insects.

Much of the charm of this wholly inaccurate and altogether delightful account is lost in the translation from Buffon's native tongue.

97578°- -SM 1910 34

The present generic name Opisthocomus was given by Stephens (47), referring to the long, waving crest; oncoló-коμoç, wearing the hair long behind, or literally, having hair behind. (oncov, behind, (ὄπισθεν, +Kóμm, the hair.)

Ignoring the various bizarre appellations given to this species by writers of the last century, we may review the common names in use to-day.

Quelch (38) writes 20 years ago: "The hoatzin is known in British Guiana by the various names 'Anna,' 'Hanna,' 'Canje' or 'Stinking pheasant,' and 'Governor Battenberg's turkeys'; but in the districts where it is found the name Hannah' is the one most commonly used." In a recent trip to the above-mentioned colony I heard only the name "Canje pheasant " used, although I discussed the subject with people of many classes.

FIG. 1.-Distribution of the hoatzin, as far as known.

Among the Portuguese of Brazil the hoatzin is called Cigana. meaning gypsy, and Catingueiro, signifying odor of the negro. The Dutch of Cayenne speak of these birds as Canje Fazanten, while the more euphonious name of the Venezuelans is Guacharacas de Aqua. They also call it Chinchena, while in Bolivia the hoatzin is known as Loco, or crazy bird.

DISTRIBUTION.

The little we know of its distribution shows that the hoatzin is as remarkable in this respect as in other phases of its life history. Sharpe (45) gives its range as follows: Amazonia, Guiana, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Boliva. This is very misleading, however, for certain factors enter into the question of inhabitable territory which require more detailed reference.

Penard (34), writing of the birds of Dutch Guiana, gives as the local distribution of the hoatzin, "Wouden en terreinen waar Arum arborescens groeit." This is certainly not true as regards British Guiana. The great heart-shaped leaves of that Arum are seen along the lower reaches of every coastal river, yet the hoatzins are confined to three streams, two of which are little more than creeks, in the extreme eastern portion of the colony. These are the Berbice, the Canje, and the Abary Rivers.

On the Abary one has to ascend about 20 miles from the coast before hoatzins are seen, and from here on they are scattered at irregular intervals for 8 or 10 miles, confined exclusively to the fringe of bushes on the windward side of the creek. So when we read that the hoatzin inhabits British Guiana, instead of thinking of it as a bird of strong flight, which traverses savannas and forests, we must realize that it is to be found in only the merest fraction of the colony.

Taking again the large area drained by the rivers just north of the Orinoco delta, one finds hoatzins absent except on the Rio Guarapiche, beginning 2 miles below the village of Caño Colorado.

I append a list of the localities from which hoatzins have been recorded. Their isolated character, while doubtless reflecting our faulty and inadequate knowledge, hints also of the remarkably sporadic occurrence of these birds:

Colombia: Bogota, Sclater (40).
Ecuador: Rio Copataza, C. Buckley.
Peru:

Cashiboya, Sel. & Sal. (42).

Yquitos, Berlepsch (7).

Bolivia Lower Beni River, Allen (1).

Venezuela:

Cano del Toro, Hornaday (23).

Orinoco from the delta to Rio Meta, Cherrie (16).

Aqua Salada, Cherrie (16).

Angostura, Berlepsch (7).

Caicara, Berlepsch and Hartert (9).

Guarapiche River, Beebe (5).

Rio Guanare, Bingham (10).

British Guiana :

Estuary of Berbice, Brown (12).

Berbice, Sclater (41), Quelch (38).

Abary Creek, Quelch (37), Beebe (6).

Dutch Guiana:

Maroni River, Perrin (35).

Indefinite, Penard (34).

French Guiana: Approuague, Berlepsch (8).

Brazil:

The hoatzin seems to be abundant locally "in the marshy regions which border the Amazon and its tributaries," Goeldi (20).

Para, Amazon, Rio Negro, Rio Solimoens, Astlett (2).

Brazil-Continued..

Amazona inferior, Est. do Amazonias, Rio Juruá, von Ihering (25).
Santarem, Pelzen (33).

Lower Rio Capim, Goeldi (21).

Obidos, Sclater.

Marajo Island, Rio Anabiju, Bingham.

The lower Amazon may thus be considered as a center of distribution from which the birds have slowly extended northward into the Guianas and the Orinoco region, northwest to Colombia, west to Ecuador and Peru, southwest to Bolivia, and south to the various tributaries of this greatest of rivers. Not one of these localities is separated by a real watershed, and all are in communication with the Amazon either by direct tributaries or by marshy itabos, or river joiners.

GENERAL APPEARANCE.

As far as general appearance goes, the name " pheasant " is not far amiss when applied to the hoatzin. It comes closest in general aspect

FIG. 2. Beak of hoatzin.

to the chachalacas, but there is something strongly suggestive of a peacock. especially in the carriage of the neck and head. This is well shown in the positions of some of the individuals in plate 3.

My descriptions are based on 15 adult hoatzins from the following localities: Ciudad Bolivar (9), Guarapiche (1), Bogata (1), Bolivia (1), Peru (1), Amazon (1), Abary, British Guiana (1). There is apparently no distinguishing sexual character and remarkably little variation in size. However, the bird which I collected in the Guarapiche, although adult, is distinct from all the others in color; and if these characters should be found to be constant in other individuals the birds in this isolated locality would form a distinct subspecies.

The beak of the hoatzin is peculiar in shape, and a better idea can be obtained from the outline drawing than from the description alone. The mandibles are deep and wide, the average measurements of 15 specimens being as follows: culmen, 29 millimeters; depth of mandibles at gape, 22 millimeters; width at gape, 19 millimeters. The striking character of the mandible is the shortness of the gonys, this being only about 9 millimeters, or one-fifth of the total length of the mandibles. The mandibles are slaty olive, lighter on the edges. The nostrils are round and placed about midway between the eye and the point of the beak. The sides of the head are almost bare, being covered only with a very scanty growth of black, bristlelike feathers on cheeks, ears, and lores. Two rows of these function as eyelashes.