CARRION HAWKS. 55 



morocco leather case, which was never recovered. These birds arc, 

 moreover, quarrelsome and very passionate ; tearing up the grass 

 with their bills from rage. They are not truly gregarious ; they do 

 not soar, and their 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 Eng- 

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

 circumstance that, when crying out, they throw their heads up- 

 wards and backwards, after the same manner as the Carrancha. 

 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 tho 

 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 thePolyborus 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 tho carcasses of dead seals. 

 Wherever these animals are congregated on the rocks, there tho 

 vultures may be seen. The Gallinazo (Cathartes atratus) has a 

 different range from the last species, as it never occurs southward 

 of lat. 41. Azara states that there exists a tradition that these 

 birds, at the time of the conquest, were not found near Monto 

 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 scavengers. 



