6o MALDONADO 



flight is heavy and clumsy ; on the ground they run extremely 

 fast, very much like pheasants. They are noisy, uttering several 

 harsh cries ; one of which is like that of the English rook ; 

 hence the sealers always call them rooks. It is a curious 

 circumstance that, when crying out, they throw their heads 

 upwards and backwards, after the same manner as the Car- 

 rancha. They build in the rocky cliffs of the sea-coast, but 

 only on the small adjoining islets, and not on the two main 

 islands : this is a singular precaution in so tame and fearless a 

 bird. The sealers say that the flesh of these birds, when 

 cooked, is quite white, and very good eating ; but bold must 

 the man be who attempts such a meal. 



We have now only to mention the turkey-buzzard (Vultur 

 aura) and the Gallinazo. The former is found wherever the 

 country is moderately damp, from Cape Horn to North America. 

 Differently from the Polyborus Brasiliensis and Chimango, it 

 has found its way to the Falkland Islands. The turkey-buzzard 

 is a solitary bird, or at most goes in pairs. It may at once be 

 recognised from a long distance, by its lofty, soaring, and most 

 elegant flight. It is well known to be a true carrion-feeder. 

 On the west coast of Patagonia, among the thickly-wooded islets 

 and broken land, it lives exclusively on what the sea throws up, 

 and on the carcasses of dead seals. Wherever these animals 

 are congregated on the rocks, there the vultures may be seen. 

 The Gallinazo (Cathartes atratus) has a different range from 

 the last species, as it never occurs southward of lat. 4 1 °. Azara 

 states that there exists a tradition that these birds, at the time 

 of the conquest, were not found near Monte Video, but that 

 they subsequently followed the inhabitants from more northern 

 districts. At the present day they are numerous in the valley 

 of the Colorado, which is three hundred miles due south of 

 Monte Video. It seems probable that this additional migration 

 has happened since the time of Azara. The Gallinazo generally 

 prefers a humid climate, or rather the neighbourhood of fresh 

 water ; hence it is extremely abundant in Brazil and La Plata, 

 while it is never found on the desert and arid plains of Northern 

 Patagonia, excepting near some stream. These birds frequent 

 the whole Pampas to the foot of the Cordillera, but I never saw 

 or heard of one in Chile : in Peru they are preserved as scaven- 

 gers. These vultures certainly may be called gregarious, for 



