CARANCHO 83 
species. I was standing on the bank of a stream on 
the pampas watching a great concourse of birds of 
several kinds on the opposite shore, where the carcase 
of a horse, from which the hide had been stripped, 
lay at the edge of the water. One or two hundred 
Hooded Gulls and about a dozen Chimangos were 
gathered about the carcase, and close to them a very 
large flock of Glossy Ibises were wading about in 
the water, while amongst these, standing motionless 
in the water, was one solitary White Egret. Presently 
four Caranchos appeared, two adults and two young 
birds in brown plumage, and alighted on the ground 
near the carcase. The young birds advanced at once 
and began tearing at the flesh; while the two old 
birds stayed where they had alighted, as if disinclined 
to feed on half-putrid meat. Presently one of them 
sprang into the air and made a dash at the birds in 
the water, and instantly all the birds in the place 
rose into the air screaming loudly, the two young 
brown Caranchos only remaining on the ground. 
For a few moments I was in ignorance of the mean- 
ing of all this turmoil, when, suddenly, out of the 
confused black and white cloud of birds the Egret 
appeared, mounting vertically upwards with vigorous 
measured strokes. A moment later, first one then 
the other Carancho also emerged from the cloud, 
evidently pursuing the Egret, and only then the two 
brown birds sprang into the air and joined in the 
chase. For some minutes I watched the four birds 
toiling upwards with a wild zig-zag flight, while the 
Egret, still rising vertically, seemed to leave them 
