Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 107, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 May 1919 — LINK WITH PREHISTORIC DAYS [ARTICLE]

LINK WITH PREHISTORIC DAYS

Hoatzin Birds, Found in Guiana, Have Long Been a Subject of Study by Scientists. Running on all fours; climbing with fingers and toes like monkeys; diving and swimming as skillfully as if they were denizens of the ocean, the baby Hoatzin birds, found in Guiana, perpetuate the prehistoric days when reptiles were the dominant beings. It can neither sing nor fly gracefully and its very presence is betrayed by its strong odor, but it is none the less of great Importance in the bird world because of its strange prehistoric attributes. The nests of the old birds are always built out over the water, frequently some 15 feet above the surface, and the young birds, with their wings turned back, not folded as is usual but up like a diver’s hands, will dive cleanly from the nest into the water and swim like a fish. When they wish to return to the nest they climb on shore and walking on their feet and handlike ends of their wings will creep back to the tree and then climb like a monkey, using what is virtually the thumb and first fingers of their strange wings. They have a long neck and head far more reptilian than birdlike, and despite their lack of beauty many scientific expeditions have been sent to Guiana to photograph and study these birds, who represent all the ages of history from reptile to modern life.