196 Mr. O. V. Aplin on the 



85. MiLVAGO CHiMANGo. Chimango Carrion-Hawk. 



At Sta. Elena less common than the Carancho at all 

 seasons^ but more abundant in autumn than in spring and 

 summer. At the Rio Negro they were more common. 

 Some were remarkably tame ; a pair at Sta. Florencia might 

 be seen any morning on the quinta fence^ and I saw a pair 

 sitting on the posts of the corral at a puesto on Sta. Elena^ 

 quite indifferent to the barking of several dogs which came 

 out at us. 



86. PoLYBORUs THARUs. Caraucho Carrion-Hawk. 

 Common, but not abundant, becoming more so, however, 



in autumn when the merinos begin to lamb. Two fledged 

 young, with Avings and tail half-grown, and an egg also were 

 brought in on the 3rd November. On the 26th November I 

 saw a bird sitting on its nest in the top of a tala bush on an 

 island in a deep laguna of the Arroyo Grande ; the nest ap- 

 peared to be formed of sticks and wool. I was informed that 

 they usually breed on the flat tops of rocks and on the 

 ground ; the nests I saw in trees were huge structures. On 

 7tli April I saw five flying together — two of them fighting in 

 the air, uttering harsh croaks, and on the 25th May 1 saw 

 seven together in the evening. 



-^ 87. Cathartes aura. Turkey Vulture. 



Less common than C. atrutiis, but I saw it both at Sta. 

 Elena and on the Rio Negro. Early in February I watched 

 a pair at Sta. Elena, and on the 27th of the next month a 

 boy brought in a head. The puestero's boys say this red- 

 headed " Cuervo " breeds there, and some of the eggs taken 

 in former years are certainly smaller than, and different in 

 shape from, the average ones of the Black Vulture. 



-/-SB. Cathartes atratus. Black Vulture. 



Common, although perhaps more so at some seasons and 

 in some years. When I was in the country there was 

 abundant food for them on account of the number of 

 cattle and horses dying in the great drought. They breed, 

 usually, I am told, on the tops of the boulder-rocks. I saw 

 many eggs which had been brought in by the shepherd-boys 



