18 



North America, as far north as about the 30th degree of north 

 latitude. It likewise inhabits Tierra del Fuego, extending as 

 far south as Cape Horn, and is found in Cuba, and also 

 in the small island of Aruba. This Caracara is a bird 

 of an exceedingly omnivorous appetite, its food consists of 

 carrion, both such as is found on land and such as is washed up 

 on the banks of rivers or on the sea coast, and also of excre- 

 mental refuse, of newly di'opped lambs, and of various small 

 mammalia. It also feeds on the feebler Gallinaceous bii'ds, 

 especially Tinamous and young chickens, as well as on other 

 birds that have been wounded, on birds' eggs, and on the 

 smaller reptiles, especially serpents ; in addition to which it 

 frequently compels other carrion-eating birds to disgorge their 

 food, which it then swallows, exactly as is done by the 

 Parasitic Gulls. The principal victims of its tyranny in this 

 respect are the smaller Vultiu'es and Caracaras, and some 

 of the Gulls. The Brazilian Caracara xmites in small com- 

 panies for the purpose of chasing Herons, Buzzards, and 

 other large birds, probably with a similar predacious intent. 

 The food of this species also occasionally includes slugs and 

 worms, as well as insects, especially grasshoppers, and the larva 

 of an CEstrus, which it frequently extracts from the backs of 

 horses and oxen. The Brazilian Caracara forms its nest of diy 

 thorny sticks, lined with haii-, roots, grass, or moss ; it usually 

 builds on trees, preferring those covered with climbing plants ; 

 in the absence of trees, it nests on bushes or on low cliffs. The 

 male bird is said to sit, diu'ing the incubation of the female, on 

 a kind of platform formed on the outside of the nest. Its eggs 

 are two in number, of a rufous violet colour, interspersed with 

 darker marks of a similar, but deeper, tint. These eggs are said 

 to be remarkable for the hardness of their shells. 



The Brazilian Caracara is a gregai'ious species, and though 

 sometimes foimd in pairs, more fi-equently occiu-s in larger 

 numbers, often mixing with the Aura, the Brazilian and the 

 Black Yultiu-es, as well as with the Chimango &nd YeUo-w- 



