1832-3. 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



63 



song may be compared to that of the Sedge warbler, but is 

 more powerful ; some harsh notes and some very high ones, 

 being mingled with a pleasant warbling. It is heard only 

 during the spring. At other times its cry is harsh and far 

 from harmonious. It frequents thickets and hedges, is very 

 active, and whilst quickly hopping about, often expands its 

 tail. Near Maldonado these birds were tame and bold; 

 they constantly attended in numbers the country houses, to 

 pick the meat which was hung up on the posts or walls : if 

 any other small bird joined the feast, the Calandria directly 

 chased it away. On the wide uninhabited plains of Patagonia 

 another closely allied species, O. Patagonica of D'Orbigny, 

 which frequents the valleys clothed with spiny bushes, is a 

 wilder bird, and has a slightly different tone of voice. It 

 appears to me a curious circumstance, as showing the fine 

 shades of difference in habits, that, judging from this latter 

 respect alone, when I first saw this second species, I thought 

 it was different from the Maldonado kind. Having after- 

 wards procured a specimen, and comparing the two without 

 particular care, they appeared so very similar, that I changed 

 my opinion ; but now Mr. Gould* says that they are cer- 

 tainly distinct ; a conclusion in conformity with the trifling 

 difference of habit, of which, however, he was not aware. 



I will conclude these few ornithological observations with 

 an account of the various carrion -feeding hawks which fre- 

 quent the extratropical parts of South America. The number, 

 tameness, and disgusting habits of these birds, make them 

 pre-eminently striking to any one accustomed only to the 

 birds of Northern Europe. In this list may be included 

 four species of the Caracara or Polyborus, the Turkey buz- 

 zard, the Gallinazo, and the Condor. The Caracaras are, 

 from their structure, placed among the eagles : we shall soon 

 see how ill they become so high a rank. In their habits 

 they well supply the place of our carrion-crows, magpies, and 

 ravens ; a tribe of birds which is totally wanting in South 



* Mr. Gould was not at the time aware that M. D'Orbigny liad de- 

 scribed them as different. 



