THE CAEACARA EAGLE. It 



lu the Erazilian Caracara the whole upper surface of the head is black, with the 

 feathers shghtly elongated backwards, and capable of being partially elevated in the shape 

 of a pointed crest. The entii-e neck is of a light brownish gray, which also forms the 

 ground colour on the breast and shoulders, but ^-ith the addition on these parts of 

 numerous wavy bars of a deeper brown. Nearly all the rest of the plumage is of a 

 tolerably uniform shade of blackish brown, with the exception of the tail, which is at 

 the base of a dirty white, with numerous narrow bands of a dusky hue. The beak is 

 hom-coloured at the tip and bluish at the base, the iris hazel, the legs yellow, and the 

 claws black. Such, at least, were the colours of the specimen that appeared in the gar- 

 dens of the Zoological Society. As the bird advances in age, however, several changes 

 take place in its plumage, as is well illustrated by an extensive series of specimens in its 

 Museum. So great, in fact, is the variation of colom* in this species that scarcely any 

 two descriptions correspond throughout, and the figui-es by wliich it is illustrated diifer 

 very considerably. 



According to D'Azara, the full-grown bird measures twenty-one inches and a half in 

 length, and fifty m the expanse of its wings. The first six quUl-featliers of the wings are 

 white, marked \vith rays and spots of brown, and Ijecome blackish toward the point. The 

 back is transversely rayed mth brow^l and white, the latter predominating on its upper 

 half, and vice versd. The fore-part of the neck and breast are traversed by dusky lines 

 mixed -with a large proportion of white. The cere is of an orange hue ; and the throat 

 and sides of the head are almost white. This description very nearly accords with one 

 by Baron Cuvier, and Avith another by M. Vieillot. 



The range of this fine bii"d extends over a considerable part of South America. In 

 Brazil it is said to be most abundant in the south and east. D'Azara speaks of it as 

 less numerous on the Rio de la Plata than in Paraguay, where it is almost equal in 

 number to all the other birds of prey. It builds its nest on the tops of trees, and in 

 preference on those which are most infested >nth chmbing shrubs. Where such are not 

 to be foimd it selects a bushy thicket, m which it forms a spacious eyrie of sticks 

 and twining branches laid nearly flat, and lined ^vith a thick layer of hair iuartificially 

 disposed. The female lays in August, September, or October, two eggs, much pouited 

 at one extremity, and dotted and spotted with crimson on a ground of brownish red. 



According to D'Azara, this bird is by no means nice as to its food. It feeds on all 

 the animals that are devom-ed by vultures, buzzards, hawks, falcons, and insectivorous 

 bu-ds ; it watches, seizes, and devours a great variety of living creatures, while carrion 

 forms part of its subsistence. It has been shot in the act of extracting insects from the 

 bodies of oxen, which were gladly submittmg to the process, and even turns up the ground 

 in quest of worms. 



The Caracara lives alone or in pairs, but sometimes four or five of these birds unite to 

 pursue a prey that a single one would Ije unable to master. D'Azai-a states that he has 

 seen them hunt domi, in this manner, red buzzards, herons, and other large birds ; and 

 it is generally believed that they contrive by the same means to destroy the American 

 ostrich, young fawns, and lambs. Not content with the pi-ey which they themselves 

 have procured, they often feast upon that which has been taken by others. Thus, if a 

 Caracara sees a vulture devour a piece of flesh, it will pursue him and compel him to 

 disgorge it. The sportsman, too, is not unfrequently foiled by the intervention of this 

 bird, which will carry off his game before his eyes. It makes its advances with as little 

 shyness as the vultiu-es, to the very precincts of inhabited places, where, perched on the 

 trees, on the house-tops, or stalking along upon the ground, it takes no pains to conceal 



