The Raven of the Pampas 



though his humbler relative in the Falklands, 

 there called the jack-rook, has a distinct caw, 

 which, with its black plumage, has no doubt 

 gained it its colloquial name — by naturalists it 

 is known as Forster's milvago. The caracara's 

 note is a harsh double croak, sometimes pro- 

 longed into a cackle, during the utterance of 

 which the vocalist turns his head back till the 

 crown touches his back. I have seen the 

 specimen at Calcutta already alluded to let off 

 his exuberant spirits in this way when his foot 

 was grabbed by a worthy old eagle next door 

 whom he was tormenting, and in this case I took 

 the note for a laugh of defiant glee. The bird 

 is also noisy when attacking, at any rate at times, 

 so that although his language is different, his free- 

 dom in its use is more suoro-estive of the voluble 

 crows than the silent and dignified hawks. 



Every observer seems to feel some pleasure 

 when a bird of the crow or caracara type gets 

 worsted in one of his predatory adventures, and 

 Mr. Gibson relates two such cases in which Don 

 Carancho distinctly came off second best. In 

 one, a half-grown nestling of the Maguari stork, 

 which had been tethered, was attacked by half- 

 a-dozen caracaras, and was found bravely keeping 

 them all at bay, and now and then getting home 

 a thrust with his powerful bill. On the other 



occasion the hawk was seen to be following a 



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