Provides Amusement for the Indians. 
363 
chasing snakes, until I found on closer inspection that it was another 
and larger bird of prey. 
979. It is just as incorrect and false for some ornithologists to 
maintain that the Cathartes only starts consuming a dead animal after 
it has gone putrid, a condition which at all events under the tropical 
sun here, occurs quickly enough as it is; the smell of the fresh meat 
appears to be just as attractive as that of the carrion, and judging from 
the greed with which the bird swallowed the former at Pirara, it must 
be considered just as tasty as the latter. 
980. We found similar numbers also on the savannahs of the Takutu 
and of Fort Sao Joaquim, where large herds of cattle are wont to 
graze. If of a morning we left our camp, or the spot where we had 
breakfasted, the birds gathered in a trice even out of the almost 
invisible heights, from every direction, to consume the remnants. When 
the latter is small and scanty it generally gives rise to the most violent 
strife; if, on the contrary, it happens to be plentiful, there is no cause 
for contention and brawl, and the birds gorge their crops and maws 
with such quantities of large chunks that, no longer able to fly, they 
remain helpless on the ground. Should they be surprised when in this 
condition, and the danger is imminent, they finally resort to the one and 
only method of escape, to wit, they disgorge, and fly away relieved. 
Most of the observations as to the Cathartes aura being attracted just as 
rapidly by the smell of fresh as by putrid meat, were made by myself 
en route. No sooner had I shot a mammal or a bird and skinned it, than 
some of the gluttonous birds drew near and consumed the carcass that 
I had flung aside. 
981. Our Indians amused themselves over and enough at the places 
where we rested by fixing a piece of meat on a hook and then casting 
it towards them. No sooner was this done than the greediest and 
smartest of the Cathartes would be struggling on the line, when it would 
be transformed into a fantastic monstrosity by the mischievous 
anglers, who usually decorated it with strange feathers which they 
stuck on with soft wax, cut neck-frills and similar things, and after 
crowning, sent it back to its own crowd amongst which their ghost-like 
relative caused the greatest consternation and only too soon found itself 
isolated and abandoned until such time as the borrowed plumes could 
be removed, and its presence again tolerated. 
982. One frequently finds the Caracara eagle associated with the 
Cathartes ; like the latter it also feeds on carrion and is attracted by its 
smell. It is a bold but very quarrelsome bird which is continually 
fighting with the Cathartes for the best morsels at a meal. 
983. However much its keenness of vision may contribute to the 
discovery of its prey, it seems to me that the Cathartes ’ chief guide is 
its delicate olfactory sense. The statement that, owing t:, the tropical 
trade-winds prevailing, the smell cannot be carried to the birds equally 
and in all directions, because it would be borne on the current of air 
always in one and the same course is just as unfounded. How often have 
I noticed that while the higher layers of clouds were rolling from east 
