410 Mr. E. Gibson on the Ornithology of 



Very rarely does it give utterance to its cry^ then generally 

 in the vicinity of the nest^ and only on the wing ; the effect 

 of this is rather startling, resembling, as it does, a wild human 

 laugh with an admixture of the Curlew's clear note — short, 

 loud, but with no harshness in it. 



Out of three adults shot, two were obtained at the nest ; 

 for though not readily scared away, it keeps just out of gun- 

 shot as a rule. One of these caused me a most thorough 

 mauvais quart d'heure, by compelling me to climb a thorny 

 Sala tree, where, leaning against thorns of various degrees 

 of length and sharpness, and devoured by clouds of mosquitos, 

 I had to watch the birds circling round me for at least that 

 time. Each time one of the pair came within range and I 

 endeavoured to get a sight, I was threatened with the loss of 

 my equilibrium, or the mosquitos on my face got over- 

 crowded, and the new comers had to content themselves with 

 experiments on the interior of my nostrils and eyes, or I 

 found a more than usually long thorn, and the opportunity 

 was gone. Nothing but the two eggs lying in the nest by 

 my side kept up my patience; and though that was at last 

 rewarded by seeing the female fall as only an eagle can, yet 

 I descended that tree rather less of an ornithologist than on 

 my ascent, and with sundry anathemas concerning tala trees 

 and mosquitos. 



The food of this bird consists principally of a small Cavy, 

 very abundant in the rincones ; and on dissection I have also 

 found the remains of a Waterhen (head entire), and a rat. 

 Once I saw a dead yellow opossum {Didelphys crassicaudata, 

 Desm.) in a tree where there was a nest with eggs, doubtless 

 brought there by the male. The opossum was a fair-sized one, 

 and might have proved as dangerous as weasels have done in 

 similar cases in Scotland. If at carrion (a dead sheep or 

 horse) all the other birds, the Carancho, Chimango, and Gulls, 

 wait till the '^Aquila '^ has satisfied its appetite before they 

 attempt to take their share. 



I kept a wounded young bird two or three weeks ; but the 

 only points I noted connected with it were those of its claws, 

 with which it marked me several times. 



