The Hoatzin or "Anna," which is about the size of a Pigeon, ranges from Colombia to the Lower Amazons and Bolivia, where it haunts the sides of lagoons, creeks, and rivers covered with a thick growth of low trees or bushes, which project over the stream or the mud left bare by the tide. In these tangled solitudes it skulks during the heat of the day, while at other times it may be observed squatting upon the branches, mainly supported on the patch of hardened skin already mentioned. When disturbed the bird flies off awkwardly for some forty yards with a violent flapping motion, or progresses by leaps from bough to bough, erecting its crest and expanding its wings and tail. The note is sharp and shrill, and has been described as a hissing screech. The food consists of leaves and fruit of the prickly _Drepanocarpus lunulatus_, of the Aroid _Montrichardia arborescens_, of _Avicennia nitida_, and of a species of _Psidium_. The conspicuous nest, placed on low trees or shrubs, is a loose platform of spiny twigs and sticks with a softer lining, which contains from three to five yellowish-white eggs of a Rail-like appearance, spotted with reddish-brown and lilac. The young, which can see and run as soon as they are hatched, have a claw on both index and pollex, by means of which they creep about the thickets and hook themselves over the branches, assisted by the bill and feet. They can also swim and dive. A strong musky odour is given off by the adults, whence they are termed "Stinking Pheasants" in Guiana. The male has been asserted to be polygamous. [Illustration: FIG. 49.–Hoatzin. _Opisthocomus cristatus._ × ⅕.] {243}ORDER X. GRUIFORMES.