this last means of supply. The Carranchas are said to be very crafty, and to steal great numbers of eggs; they attempt also, together with the Chimango, to pick the scabs off the sore backs of both horses and mules. On the one hand, the poor animal, with its ears down and its back arched; and, on the other, the hovering bird, eyeing at the distance of a yard, the disgusting morsel, form a picture which has been described by Captain Head with his own peculiar spirit and accuracy. The Carranchas kill wounded animals; but Mr. Bynoe (the surgeon of the Beagle) saw one seize in the air a live partridge, which, however, escaped, and was for some time chased on the ground. I believe this circumstance is very unusual: at all events there is no doubt that the chief part of their sustenance is derived from carrion. A person will discover their _necrophagous_ habits by walking out on one of the desolate plains, and there lying down to sleep: when he awakes, he will see on each surrounding hillock, one of these birds patiently watching him with an evil eye. It is a feature in the landscape of these countries, which will be recognised by every one who has wandered over them. If a party goes out hunting with dogs and horses, it will be accompanied during the day, by several of these attendants. The uncovered craw of the Carrancha, after feeding, protrudes from its breast; at such times it is, and indeed generally, an inactive, tame, and cowardly bird. Its flight is generally heavy and slow, like that of the English carrion crow, whose place it so well supplies in America. It seldom soars; but I have twice seen one at a great height gliding through the air with much ease. It runs (in contradistinction to hopping), but not quite so quickly as some of its congeners. At times the Carrancha is noisy, but is not generally so; its cry is loud, very harsh and peculiar, and may be compared to the sound of the Spanish guttural _g_, followed by a rough double _r r_. Perhaps the Spaniards of Buenos Ayres, from this cause, have called it Carrancha. Molina, who says it is called Tharu in Chile, states, that when uttering this cry, it elevates its head higher and higher, till at last, with its beak wide open, the crown almost touches the lower part of the back. This fact, which has been doubted, is true; for I have myself several times seen them with their heads backwards, in a completely inverted position. The Carrancha builds a large coarse nest, either in a low cliff, or in a bush or lofty tree. To these observations I may add, on the high authority of Azara, whose statements have lately been so fully confirmed by M. D’Orbigny, that the Carrancha feeds on worms, shells, slugs, grasshoppers, and frogs; that it destroys young lambs by tearing the umbilical cord: and that it pursues the Gallinazos and gulls which attend the slaughtering-houses, till these birds are compelled to vomit up any carrion they may have lately gorged. Lastly,