72 MALDONADO. 



most rarely kill any living bird or animal; and 

 their vulture-like, necrophagous habits are very 

 evident to any one, who has fallen asleep on the 

 desolate plains of Patagonia, for when he wakes, 

 he will see, on each surrounding hillock, one of 

 these birds patiently watching him with an evil 

 eye : it is a feature in the landscape of these coun- 

 tries, which will be recognised by every one who 

 has wandered over them. If a party of men go 

 out hunting with dogs and horses, they will be ac- 

 companied, during the day, by several of these at- 

 tendants. After feeding, the uncovered craw pro- 

 trudes ; at such times, and indeed generally, the 

 Carrancha is an inactive, tame, and cowardly bird. 

 Its flight is heavy and slow, like that of an Eng- 

 lish rook. It seldom soars ; but I have twice seen 

 one at a gi'eat height gliding through the air with 

 much ease. It rans (in contradistinction to hop- 

 ping), but not quite so quickly as some of its con- 

 geners. At times the Carrancha is noisy, but is 

 not generally so : its cry is loud, very harsh and 

 peculiar, and may be likened to the sound, of the 

 Spanish guttural g, followed by a rough double 

 r ; when uttering this cry it elevates its head high- 

 er and higher, till at last, with its beak wide open, 

 the crown almost touches the lower part of the 

 back. This fact, which has been doubted, is quite 

 true ; I have seen them several times with their 

 heads backwards in a completely inverted position. 

 To these observations I may add, on the high au- 

 thority of Azara, that the Carrancha feeds on 

 worms, shells, slugs, grasshoppers, and frogs ; that 

 it destroys young lambs by tearing the umbilical 

 cord; and that it pursues the Gallinazo, till that 

 bird is compelled to vomit up the carrion it may 

 have recently gorged. Lastly, Azara states that 

 several Carranchas, five or six together, will unite 



