CARANCHO 87 



ing on the small of the neck just behind the head, 

 while in some cases the head had been completely 

 wrenched off. 



The Gauchos when snaring Partridges (Tinamus) 

 frequently bribe the Caranchos to assist them. The 

 snarer has a long slender cane with a small noose at 

 the extremity, and when he sights a Partridge he 

 gallops round it in circles until the bird crouches 

 close in the grass ; then the circles are narrowed 

 and the pace slackened, while he extends the cane 

 and lowers it gradually over the bewildered bird 

 until the small noose is dropped over its head 

 and it is caught. Many Partridges are not dis- 

 posed to sit still to be taken in this open, bare- 

 faced way; but if the snarer keeps a Carancho 

 hovering about by throwing him an occasional 

 gizzard, the wariest Partridge is so stricken with 

 fear that it will sit still and allow itself to be 

 caught. 



In the love season the male Caranchos are fre- 

 quently seen fighting ; and sometimes, when the 

 battle is carried on at a great height in the air, the 

 combatants are seen clasped together and falling 

 swiftly towards the earth ; but, in all contests I have 

 witnessed, the birds have not been so blinded with 

 passion as to fall the whole distance before separating. 

 Besides these single combats, in which unpaired or 

 jealous males engage in the love-season, there are 

 at all times occasional dissensions amongst them, 

 the cause of which it would be difficult to determine. 

 Here again, as often in hunting, the birds combine 



