m 



es, anff 



66 CARRION HAWKS. [chap. 



well supply the place of our carrion-crows, magpies, 

 ravens ; a tribe of birds widely distributed over the rest of 

 the world, but entirely absent in South America. To begin 

 with the Polyhorus Brasiliensis : this is a common bird, and 

 has a wide geographical range ; it is most numerous on the 

 grassy savannahs of La Plata (where it goes by the name 

 of Carrancha), and is far from unfrequent throughout the 

 sterile plains of Patagonia. In the desert between the rivers 

 Negro and Colorado, numbers constantly attend the line of 

 road to devour the carcasses of the exhausted animals 

 which chance to perish from fatigue and thirst. Although 

 thus common in these dry and open countries, and likewise 

 on the arid shores of the Pacific, it is nevertheless found 

 inhabiting the damp, impervious forests of West Patagonia 

 and Tierra del Fuego. The Carranchas, together with the 

 Chimango, constantly attend in numbers the estancias and 

 slaughtering-houses. If an animal dies on the plain, the 

 Gallinazo commences the feast, and then the two species of 

 Polyborus pick the bones clean. These birds, although thus 

 commonly feeding together, are far from being friends. 

 When the Carrancha is quietly seated on the branch of a 

 tree or on the ground, the Chimango often continues for a 

 long time flying backwards and forwards, up and down, in 

 a semicircle, trying each time at the bottom of the curve 

 to strike its larger relative. The Carrancha takes little 

 notice, except by bobbing its head. Although the Carranchas 

 frequently assemble in numbers, they are not gregarious ; 

 for in desert places they may be seen solitary, or more 

 commonly by pairs. 



The Carranchas are said to be very crafty, and to steal 

 great numbers of eggs. They attempt, also, together with 

 the Chimango, to pick off the scabs from the sore backs of 

 horses and mules. The poor animal, on the one hand, with 

 its ears down, and its back arched ; and, on the other, the 

 hovering bird, eyeing at the distance of a yard, the dis- 

 gusting morsel, form a picture, which has been described 

 by Captain Head, with its own peculiar spirit and accuracy. 

 These false eagles 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 countries, which will be recognised by every one who 



