THE ARGENTINE FRONTIER 359 



in the vicinity of the dwellings. Should a pair of the cheery 

 singers place their large, domed nest of mud near by, good 

 fortune will follow in their wake. Any one guilty of rob- 

 bing a bird's nest will become violently ill; but as birds 

 flock to the planted areas in such great bands that an ap- 

 preciable amount of damage is done to the fruit and ripen- 

 ing grain, their increase in numbers is discouraged by filling 

 many nests with small stones. After the seeds have been 

 planted, a network of strings is stretched across the fields, 

 and sometimes a dead hawk suspended from a post in the 

 centre serves as a scarecrow to frighten away the maraud- 

 ing visitors. When the crops ripen, a small boy called the 

 " piscomanchachi" is stationed in each sector. He is armed 

 with a sling and keeps up an incessant fusillade of stones; 

 fortunately his aim is poor, but he succeeds in killing a few 

 birds each day. 



These Quechuas lead a sedentary life. There are no more 

 long, arduous journeys to far-away Lake Titicaca and Cuzco 

 to participate in solemn festivals and gorgeous pageants. 

 Their fields supply potatoes as of yore, and they still con- 

 vert the tubers into their beloved chuno by simply allowing 

 them to freeze and diy. From the wheat they have learned 

 to cultivate, a splendid quality of bread is made. Their 

 flocks provide flesh and milk, and the wool so essential to 

 the preservation of human life and well-being in the high 

 altitudes. Tola bushes and a peaty growth known as yareta 

 furnish an adequate supply of fuel; but should these be 

 lacking, dung is used. The demands of civilization, how- 

 ever, will alter this mode of existence until little remains 

 to remind us of the contented nation which at one time 

 willingly bowed to the rule of the Children of the Sun. 



Birds were not quite so numerous as at the Pilcomayo, 

 but we found several forms new to us. Among them was 

 a large, white-fronted parrakeet (Myiopsitta luchsi) that 

 we saw in no other place. It banded in flocks of ten to fifty 

 and seemed to prefer the fruit-trees near the house. A 

 species of humming-bird built nests in doorways and sus- 



