354 Mr. W. A. Forbes on Eleven Weeks 



seventy miles beyond Garanhuns, Unfortunately they suc- 

 cumbed to the jolting and heat of the journey down to Pal- 

 mares, dying the day before we reached Recife. The Bra- 

 zilians considered it a rare bird, and called it " Couao.^^ As 

 noticed by Burmeister (Thiere Bras. ii. p. 92), these birds, 

 after a good meal, showed a naked ^^craw"' protruding 

 through the breast-feathers. 

 Irides dark brown. 



93. POLYBORUS THARUS. 



The " Cara-cara '' 1 saw several times on the coast, both 

 near Recife and around Parahyba. In the interior I did not 

 identify it. On the wing it has a decidedly fine appearance. 



-f-^^. Cathartes aura. 



The Red-headed '' Urubii '' is never, as far as I saw, to be 

 met with in towns, though it was by no means rare in the 

 country. I first saw it at Goyanna, and afterwards met with 

 it plentifully at Parahyba and near Cabo. It is usually seen 

 singly or in pairs ; but on one occasion, at an '' engenho '^ 

 near Cabo, I saw a considerable number, perhaps twenty, of 

 it together. The Brazilians, as a rule, did not distinguish 

 between C. aura and C. atratus. Gyijagus papa, however (a 

 species I did not meet with, though it occurs sometimes not 

 far from Recife), is well known to them as the ^^Urubu Re," 

 or King Urubii. 



- 95. Cathartes atratus. 



The " Urubii " is one of the first birds to attract the 

 stranger's eye on his landing in Recife, as every day several 

 of these birds may be seen flying heavily about in the out^ 

 skirts of the town, or even over waste places in it, on the 

 look out for ofl'al of any kind. Before Recife boasted of a 

 drainage company (a benefit it now possesses) the Urubus 

 are said to have been much mprc numerous than they now 

 are, and, indeed, they were then the main agents for sanitary 

 purposes. Even now they are useful in this way, to some 

 extent, as scavengers, and a considerable fine is imposed for 

 shooting one. The white patch on the remiges is Very con- 

 spicuous on the bird when flying, and diminishes somewhat 



