ovalle's historical relation of chile. J'J 



To begin with the king of them all, the eagle : there are there abundance of them ; 

 thofe which are called royal or imperial have been feen here only twice ; firft, when 

 the Spaniards firft entered that kingdom ; and the fecond time in the year 1640, when 

 the Araucanos fubmitted their untamed necks to their God and the king ; they inter- 

 preting this as one of the figns of God Almighty's will to incline them to take that 

 refolution which they then took. As for the ordinary eagles, which do not differ much 

 from the others, they have always been and are ftill in the country very common. 

 There are likewife bred falcons, fo large and ftrong, that for their beauty they have 

 been carried from thence, though fo far, as a prefent to the king of Spain ; and they 

 are commonly carried to Peru, particularly that kind which are called Primas, or firft, 

 though thofe called fecond are very large Xosd. There are befides, all other birds of 

 rapine and prey ; and of the finging birds, there are linnets, bull-finches, nightingales, 

 blackbirds, and many others, who form fome a bafs, and fome a tenor, with all the 

 other parts of harmony, beyond belief, particularly in fummer under the fhades of trees. 



The birds for game are herons, partridges, wild pigeons, thrufhes, turtles, parrots, 

 wild ducks of a thoufand forts, fome of one colour, and fome of another, and all very 

 good. The domeftic tame fowls are hens, ducks, geefe, turkeys ; and that nothing 

 may be wanting, fwallows in fummer, which go away in winter, as they do in Europe, 

 to warmer climates ; fcreech-owls, and other night-birds ; as alfo .bats. 



Thefe are the birds of the European kind, which are found in thofe parts, as well 

 as I can remember ; and there is hardly a bird here in Europe, that I obferve in the 

 fields, that I have not obferved the like fomewhere in Chile, with very little difference. 



Who now can defcribe the variety of native birds of that climate ? which are in fuch 

 variety and abundance, that people are fain to guard their vineyards from them as foon 

 as the grapes begin to ripen ; and yet it is impoflible to hinder them from doing a great 

 deal of mifchief, they being fo nimble, and having fo fecure a retreat, though all forts 

 of inventions, fuch as guns, crofs-bows, flings, fcare-crows, are put in ufe ; fo that 

 if any are negligent, they may be fure to find their vintage made to their hand. And 

 this mifchief is not only for their vineyards, but likewife for all feeds, which is fain to 

 be watched after it is fowed, till it fprouts ; and as foon as the wheat and maize begin 

 to ripen, the guards muft be renewed ; for there comes whole armies of birds to attack 

 them, and do them as much mifchief as if they were Xerxes' armies. 



In particular the parrots are fo voracious and greedy, and have a bill that cuts like a l^.^^a^ 

 razor : they come in flocks of fuch an extent, that when they rife they cover the air, 

 and fill it with fuch a confufion of cries, that I cannot find any thing to compare it to. 

 This kind of birds is bred all over Chile, in the mountains and in the Cordillera ; 

 and it is wonderful to fee how exa<3;ly they come to an hour, as if they were called 

 by a bell; or had fome notice where and when the fruits were ripe, and in feafon for 

 them to enjoy them : they come down from the mountains in the evening ; and the 

 . noife which they make in flying, though they fly high, is fuch, that one would think 

 them clofe by : they have a fhrill clear voice, and they fly all fcreaming at once, fo 

 that their noife is very loud : they are all green and yellow, and have a blue circle 

 about their neck, and very good to eat, particularly the young ones. 



Thofe years which are to prove rainy, as the natives obferve, as foon as the wea- 

 ther grows cool, before the winter begins, one may fee every evening, for many days, 

 great quantities of crows come down from the Cordillera into the plains : they come 

 about an hour before fun-fet in fquadrons, forming a triangle or pyramid, the point 

 of which is led by one fmgle one, before whom none dare go : the figure they 



9 make 



