70 MALDONADO. 



its ci-y is harsh and far from harmonious. Near 

 Maklonado these birds were tame and bold; they 

 constantly attended the country houses in num- 

 bers, to pick the meat which was hung ujd on the 

 posts or walls : if any other small bird joined the 

 feast, the Calandria soon chased it away. On the 

 wide uninhabited plains of Patagonia another close- 

 ly allied species, O. Patagonica of d'Orbigny, which 

 frequents the valleys clothed with spiny bushes, is 

 a wilder bird, and has a slightly different tone of 

 voice. It appears to me a curious circumstance, 

 showing the fine shades of difference in habits, that, 

 judging from this latter respect alone, when I first 

 saw this second species, I thought it was different 

 from the Maldonado kind. Having afterwards 

 procured a specimen, and comparing the two with- 

 out particular care, they appeared so very similar, 

 that I changed my opinion ; but now Mr. Gould 

 says that they are certainly distinct ; a conclusion 

 in conformity with the trifling difference of habit, 

 of which, however, he was not aware. 



The number, tameness, and disgusting habits of 

 the carrion-feeding hawks of South America make 

 them pre-eminently striking to any one accustom- 

 ed only to the birds of Northern Europe. In this 

 list may be included four species of the Caracara 

 or Polyboi'us, the Turkey buzzard, the Gallinazo, 

 and the Condor. The Caracaras are, from their 

 structure, placed among the eagles : we shall soon 

 see how ill they become so high a rank. In their 

 habits they well supply the place of our carrion- 

 crows, magpies, and ravens ; a tribe of birds wide- 

 ly distributed over the rest of the world, but entire- 

 ly absent in South America. To begin with the 

 Polyborus Brasiliensis : this is a common bird, and 

 has a wide geogi'aphical range ; it is most numerous 

 on the grassy savamiahs of La Plata (where it goes 



