68 



MALDONADO. 



1832-3. 



always so call them. It is a curious circumstance that, when 

 crying out, they throw^ their heads upwards and backwards, 

 after the same manner as the Carrancha. They build on 

 the rocky cliffs of the sea-coast, but only in the small islets, 

 and not in the two main islands. This is a singular precau- 

 tion in so tame and fearless a bird. The sealers say that 

 the flesh of these birds when cooked, is quite white, and very 

 good eating. 



We have now only to mention the turkey-buzzard {VuJtur 

 aura), and the Gallinazo. The former is found wherever 

 the country is moderately damp, from Cape Horn to North 

 America. Differently from the Polyhorus Braziliensis 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 

 the carcasses of dead seals. Wherever these animals are 

 congregated on the rocks, there the vultures may be seen. 

 The Gallinazo {Cathartes atratus) has a different range from 

 the last species, as it never occurs to the southward of 

 lat. 41°. Azara states that there existed a tradition that these 

 birds, at the time of the conquest, were not to be found near 

 Monte Video, but that they subsequently followed the in- 

 habitants 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 



