The _lecca-leccas_ or plovers were very numerous, screaming shrilly as they flew in circles, or ran along the ground. In the clefts of the rocks there were many birds, like creepers, called _haccacllo_ by the Indians, and _pito_ in Spanish--beaks curved downwards, black on the top of the head, white underneath, red at the back of the neck, speckled wings, white breast, and a black line from the beak to the back of the neck. We also saw many small green paroquets, bright yellow finches called _silgaritos_, a kind of partridge called _yutu_, and, above all, the glorious _coraquenque_ or _alcamari_, the royal bird of the Incas, whose black and white wing-feathers surmounted the imperial _llautu_ or fringe of the sovereigns of Peru. The _alcamari_ is a large and noble-looking bird of prey, with a scarlet head, black body, and long wing-feathers of spotless white. Wherever the plains are intersected by ridges of rocky cliffs, which is frequently the case, there are swarms of large rodents, called _biscaches_, which sat on their hind legs, and looked about inquisitively as we rode past. Riding over several wide grassy plains, and passing the village of Tiquillaca, we arrived at the banks of the river Tortorani, which was so swollen as to be quite impassable. By following its course for about half a mile, we came to a place where the whole volume of water precipitates itself down a sheer declivity of 250 feet, and forms a magnificent cascade. A league below the falls we found a bridge, and, at sunset, we came in sight of the great lake of Titicaca, with the snowy range beyond. A steep zigzag descent leads down to the city of Puno, which is close to the shores of the lake, and hemmed in by an amphitheatre of argentiferous mountains.