112 Barrows on Birds of the I.otuer Uruguay. [April 



in unusual numbers wherever the food supply is suddenly in- 

 creased, as for exam23le, during those jjeriodic overflows of the 

 river to which the name creciente is given. When the rise is 

 quite sudden the destruction of small quadrupeds is very great, 

 and the Cirranchos are very sure to be on hand. The regular 

 creciente occurs usually in October, and the river then rises 

 gradually to a height of five or six feet above its usual mark, and 

 in the course of a week or two, subsides again quietly. In July, 

 i8So, however, the river rose quite suddenly until it reached a 

 point some twelve feet above low-water mark. As a result hun- 

 dreds of square miles of low land were flooded, and in many 

 places the water extended backward along the smaller affluents 

 for many miles, doing considerable damage to stock, etc. Of 

 course there was a general exodus of " all four-footed beasts and 

 creeping things" from the flooded district. Along tlie edge of 

 the water thousands of the little cavias scampered in dismay, 

 while the bodies of thousands of others were thrown up to the 

 waiting Carranchos, which stalked along the shore by hundreds. 

 Wild cattle which had been hiding for years in the swamps were 

 now forced to come ashore and take their turn under the lazo, 

 while many a rai"e deer and rarer jaguar fell victim to the rifle of 

 the estanciero. For a week or two the unequal struggle went on, 

 and then the receding waters allowed the survivors to return to 

 their old haunts, if they could find them, while the estanciero 

 quietly counted his bundles of new hides and wished the river 

 would rise every year to the same height. 



While the high water lasted the Carranchos, gorged with 

 carrion, and naturally heavy and sluggish, were almost as tame 

 as barn-yard fowls, and there was abundant opportunity for any 

 one so disposed to study their disgusting habits and make his 

 series of skins as large as he pleased. I respectfully declined the 

 offer, so far as the skins were concerned, preferring to keep my 

 entomological and ornithological collections separate so far as 

 practicable. 



Although feeding frequently on carrion, the birds evidently ap- 

 preciate fresh meat as well. I once had hard work to prevent a 

 Teal, which had fellen in the water, from being carried olTby one, 

 and thouo'h I did succeed in this case I was less fortunate at other 

 times. While shooting Ducks along the Piqu6 in March I killed 

 a beautiful pair of Cinnamon Teal, and wishing to keep them clean 



