126 PAMPAS. [chap. vii. 



mentioned, on the plains of Buenos Ayres exclusively inhabits 

 the holes of the bizcacha ; but in Banda Oriental it is its own 

 workman. During the open day, but more especially in the 

 evening, these birds may be seen in every direction standing fre- 

 quently by pairs on the hillock near their burrows. If disturbed 

 they either enter the hole, or, uttering a shrill harsh cry, move 

 with a remarkably undulatory flight to a short distance, and 

 then turning round, steadily gaze at their pursuer. Occasionally 

 in the evening they may be heard hooting. I found in the sto- 

 machs of two which I opened the remains of mice, and I one 

 day saw a small snake killed and carried away. It is said that 

 snakes are their common prey during the daytime. I may here 

 mention, as showing on what various kinds of food owls subsist, 

 that a species killed among the islets of the Chonos Archipelago, 

 had its stomach full of good-sized crabs. In India* there is a 

 fishing genus of owls, which likewise catches crabs. 



In the evening we crossed the Rio Arrecife on a simple raft 

 made of barrels lashed together, and slept at the post-house on 

 the other side. I this day paid horse-hire for thirty-one leagues ; 

 and although the sun was glaring hot I was but little fatigued. 

 When Captain Head talks of riding fifty leagues a day, I do 

 not imagine the distance is equal to 150 English miles. At all 

 events, the thirty-one leagues was only 76 miles in a straight 

 line, and in an open country I should think four additional miles 

 for turnings would be a sufficient allowance. 



29th and 30th. We continued to ride over plains of the 

 same character. At San Nicolas I first saw the noble river of 

 the Parana. At the foot of the cliff on which the town stands, 

 some large vessels were at anchor. Before arriving at Rozario, 

 we crossed the Saladillo, a stream of fine clear running water, 

 but too saline to drink. Rozario is a large town built on a dead 

 level plain, which forms a cliff about sixty feet high over the 

 Parana. The river here is very broad, with many islands, which 

 are low and wooded, as is also the opposite shore. The view 

 would resemble that of a great lake, if it were not for the linear- 

 shaped islets, which alone give the idea of running water. The 

 cliffs are the most picturesque part ; sometimes they are abso- 

 lutely perpendicular, and of a red colour ; at other times in large 

 * Journal of Asiatic Soc, vol. v. p. 363. 



