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Show 8 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF TIIE BEAGLE. th in the southern half of the continent. These vultures certainly are gr:;arious; for they seem to have pleasure in each other's society, and are not solely brought together by the attraction of a common. prey. ~n a fine day, a flock may often be seen at a great height ; each bud wheelmg r~und a~d round in the most graceful evolutions. This is evidentl~ done for theu sport ; or perhaps is connected (for a similar habit may sometimes be observed durin~ the br~euing season amongst our common rooks) with their matrimonial alliances. 2. CATHARTES AURA. Illi. V ultur aura, Linn. ---- Jardine's Wilson, vol. iii. p. 226. Vultur jota, 1 Molina, Compendio de la Ilist. del Reyno de Chile, vol i. p. 296. Turkey-buzzard and Carrion Crow of the English in America. THIS bird has a wide geographical range, being found from 55° S. to Nova Scotia (according to Wilson, in Jardine's edition, vol. iii. p. 231,) in 45° N.; or exactly one hundred degrees of latitude. Its lesser range in Northern than in Southern America is probably due to the more excessive nature of the climate in the former hemisphere. It is said to be partly migatory during winter, in the Northern and even in the Middle States, and likewise on the shores of the Pacific. The C. aura is found in the extreme parts of Tierra del Fuego, and on the indented coast, covered with thick forests, of West Patagonia, (but not on the arid plains of Eastern Patagonia,) in Chile, where it is called J ote, in Peru, in the 'Vest Indies; and, according to Wilson, it remains even during winter, in New Jersey and Delaware, latitude 40°. It and one of the family of Polyborime are the only two carrion-feeding hawks, which have found their way to the Falkland Islands. The Turkey buzzard, as it is generally called by the English, may be recognized at a great distance from its lofty, soaring and most graceful flight. It is generally solitary, or, at most, sweeps over the country in pairs. In Tierra del Fuego, and on the west coast of Patagonia, it must live exclusively on what the sea throws up, and on dead seals: wherever these animals in herds were sleeping on the beach, there this vulture might be seen, patiently standing on some neighbouring rock. At the Falkland Islands it was tolerably common ; but sometimes there would not be a single one near the settlement for several days together, and then many would suddenly appear. They were usually shy; a disposition which is remarkable, as being different from that of almost every other bird in this Archipelago. May we infer from this that. they ~re migratory, like those of the northern hemisphere? In a female specimen killed there, the skin of the head was intermediate in colour between BIRDS. 9 " scarlet and cochineal red,"* and the iris dark-coloured. D'Orbigny describes the iris as being bright scarlet; whilst Azara says it is "jaune Ieger." Is this difference owing to the sex and age, as certainly is the case with the condors ? As a considerable degree of confusion has prevailed in the synonyms of this and the foregoing species, caused apparently by a doubt to which of them Molina applied the name of Jote, I would wish to call attention to the fact, that at the present time the 0. aura in Chile goes by the name of Jote. Moreover, I think Molina's description by itself might have decided the question; he says, the head of the Vuitur jota is naked, and covered only with a wrinkled and 1·eddislt (roxiza) skin. Polyboms vulgaris, Vieillot. FAMILY-FALCONIDJE. Sun-F.AM. POLYBORINlE, Swains. (Caracaridre, D'Orbigny.) PoLYBORUS BRASILIENSIS. Swains. Falco Brasiliensis Auctorum ; Caracara of Azara; Tharu of Molina; and Carrancha of the inhabitants of La Plata. THIS is one of the commonest birds in South America, and has a wide geographical range. It is found in Mexico and in the West Indies. It is also, according to M. Audubon, an occasional visitant to the Floridas ; it takes its name from Brazil, but is no where so common as on the grassy savannahs of La Plata. It generally follows man, but is sometimes found even on the most desert plains of Patagonia: in the northern part of that region, numbers constantly attended the line of road between the Rio Negro and the Colorado, to devour the carcasses of the animals which chanced to perish from fatigue. Although abundant on the ·open plains of this eastern portion of the continent, and likewise on the rocky and barren shores of the Pacific, nevertheless it inhabits the borders of the damp and impervious forests of Tierra del Fuego and of the broken coast of West Patagonia, even as far south as Cape Horn. The Carranchas (as the Polyborus Brasiliensis is called in La Plata) together with the P. cltirnangot, attend in great numbers the estancias and slaughtering houses in the neighbourhood of the Plata. If an • In this work, whenever the particular namo of any colour is given, or it is placed within commas, it implies, that it is taken from comparison with Patrick Syme's edition of Werner's Nomenclature of Colours. t bfilvaoo Oltiman[Jo of this work. c |