182 Mr. Ambrose A. Lane— Field-Notes 



locality which I visited, and is known everywhere as the 

 '' Tinque " or " Trinque/' 



Its discordant cry is heard ever and anon when one 

 rides about, and in the southern provinces in the winter- 

 time, when the country looks most blank and dreary and 

 the rain falls unceasingly, the cry of the Tinque will be 

 heard as if complaining of the wretched situation, and is 

 enough to make anyone feel dismal. 



These birds feed on a variety of substances, more especially 

 insects and reptiles. I have seen a flock hovering round a 

 man ploughing, just the same as the Rook does here. They 

 are very partial to carrion and offal, and are always present 

 on the sea-beach and by rivers and lakes, where they feed 

 on fish, shell-fish, &c. 



I found a nest of this species in the south about the 1st of 

 November, containing three very young birds, covered with 

 white down. It was placed in a low tree in a coppice, about 

 9 or 10 feet above the ground, and well concealed. It was 

 a little over 1 foot in diameter, and roughly made, though 

 compact in the centre. The outside was a mixture of twigs, 

 sticks, and straw, which formed the bulk ; in this was a 

 layer of dry grass or fibre, made fairly compact, and a warm 

 lining of wool completed the structure. I have seen a 

 Tinque alight on the back of an ox, which by sundry hitches 

 and twitchings made it fly off. Then it went on another 

 of the herd, which likewise was evidently too much tickled 

 by its strong talons, and got rid of it by a whisk of the 

 tail ; but the persevering bird finally succeeded in staying 

 on one lying down, which appeared too fat and lazy to 

 trouble about it, and remained a long time, running up and 

 down and searching busily for insects on the hide. 



61. MiLVAGO MEGALOPTERUS. 



Ibycter megalopterus, Sharpe, B. M. C. i. p. 36; Scl. P. Z. S. 

 1891, p. 135. 



(Sacaya and Cancosa.) 



I met with these birds in the Cordilleras of Tarapac^, 

 when I invariably observed them in pairs. They were not 



