232 The Naturalist in La Plata. 
at Mangrullos, which had not been burnt and was 
still inhabited, it settled down at once and never 
afterwards showed any disposition to go away. It 
was extremely tame, associating by day with the 
poultry, and going to roost with them at night on 
a high perch, probably for the sake of companion- 
ship, for in a wild state the bird roosts on the 
cround. It was friendly towards all the members 
of the household except one, a peon, and against 
this person from the first the bird always dis- 
played the greatest antipathy, threatening him 
with its wings, puffing itself out, and hissing like 
an anery goose. The man had a swarthy, beardless 
face, and it was conjectured that the chakar asso- 
ciated him in its mind with the savages who had 
destroyed its early home. 
Close to the house there was a lagoon, never 
dry, which was frequently visited by flocks of wild 
chakars. Whenever a flock appeared the tame bird 
would go out to join them ; and though the chakars 
are mild-tempered birds and very rarely quarrel, 
albeit so well provided with formidable weapons, 
they invariably attacked the visitor with great fury, 
chasing him back to the house, and not ceasing 
their persecutions till the poultry-yard was reached. 
They appeared to regard this tame bird that dwelt 
with man as a kind of renegade, and hated him 
accordingly. 
Before he had been long at the estancia it began 
to be noticed that he followed the broods of young 
chickens about very assiduously, apparently taking 
great interest in their welfare, and even trying to 
entice them to follow him. A few newly-hatched 
