6o 



CASSELL'S book of birds. 



companion, the Carrion Vulture ; it often flies to a distance of some five or six miles in search of 

 one of its favourite resting-places, and should an old tree not be discovered, takes possession of 

 a piece of rock, or of one of the hills raised by the termites. Throughout the entire year the 

 female is never deserted by her mate, and even when these birds are seen in large parties, it is 

 easy to distinguish the respective pairs by their mutual attentions. In Paraguay the breeding 

 season commences in the autumn ; in the more central parts of the continent it takes place in the 

 spring. The nest, which is large and flat, is placed on a tree, and formed of branches lined with 

 roots, grass, and moss. The two eggs which form a brood are yellow, spotted with brown or 



THE CARANCHO OR TRARO (Polyborus vulgaris or Brasilicnsis). 



crimson. The young are covered with white down when they first leave the shell, and are for a 

 time tended with great care by their parents; this attention is, however, of short duration, the 

 little family being sent forth early to shift for themselves. These birds are but rarely caged. 

 Audubon informs us that all the brilliant colours that adorn the bare patches upon the body 

 of the Carancho have completely faded within an hour after the death of the bird. 



THE GANGA. 

 The Ganga {Ibicter Americanus or Ibider nudicollis) represents a group known as the 

 SCREAMING BUZZARDS {Ibider). 



