6o 
MALDONADO 
CHAP. 
flight is heavy and clumsy ; on the ground they run extremely 
fast, very much like pheasants. They are noisy, uttering several 
harsh cries ; one of which is like that of the English rook ; 
hence the sealers always call them rooks. It is a curious 
circumstance that, when crying out, they throw their heads 
upwards and backwards, after the same manner as the Car- 
rancha. They build in the rocky cliffs of the sea-coast, but 
only on the small adjoining islets, and not on the two main 
islands : this is a singular precaution 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 ; but bold must 
the man be who attempts such a meal. 
We have now only to mention the turkey-buzzard (Vultur 
aura) and the Gallinazo. The former is found wherever the 
country is moderately damp, from Cape Horn to North America. 
Differently from the Polyborus Brasiliensis 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 southward of lat. 41 °. Azara 
states that there exists a tradition that these birds, at the time 
of the conquest, were not found near Monte Video, but that 
they subsequently followed the inhabitants 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 scaven¬ 
gers. These vultures certainly may be called gregarious, for 
