232 The Naturalist in La Plata. 



at Mangrullos, which had not been burnt and was 

 still inhabited, it settled down at ones and never 

 afterwards showed any disposition to go away. It 

 was extremely tame, associating by day with the 

 poultry, and going to roost with them at night on 

 a high perch, probably for the sake of companion- 

 ship, for in a wild state the bird roosts on the 

 ground. It was friendly towards all the members 

 of the household except one, a peon, and against 

 this person from the first the bird always dis- 

 played the greatest antipathy, threatening him 

 with its wings, puffing itself out, and hissing like 

 an angry goose. The man had a swarthy, beardless 

 face, and it was conjectured that the chakar asso- 

 ciated him in its mind with the savages who had 

 destroyed its early home. 



Close to the house there was a lagoon, never 

 dry, which was frequently visited by flocks of wild 

 chakars. Whenever a flock appeared the tame bird 

 would go out to join them ; and though the chakars 

 are mild-tempered birds and very rarely quarrel, 

 albeit so well provided with formidable weapons, 

 they invariably attacked the visitor with great fury, 

 chasing him back to the house, and not ceasing 

 their persecutions till the poultry-yard was reached. 

 They appeared to regard this tame bird that dwelt 

 with man as a kind of renegade, and hated him 

 accordingly. 



Before he had been long at the estancia it began 

 to be noticed that he followed the broods of young 

 chickens about very assiduously, apparently taking 

 great interest in their welfare, and even trying to 

 entice them to follow him. A few newly-hatched 



