THE
AUK'
A Q,_UARTERLY
JOURNAl,
OF
ORNITHOLOGY.
VOL. I.
APRIL, X884.
BIRDS
OF
THE
BY
WALTEll
LOXVER
B.
•O.
2.
URUGUAY.
BARROV,'S.
• Conlt'nued?'•om ]5..•'o. •
x3o. Buteo pterocles Ternre. AGuxn^ (E•GnF.).--Many
individuals of this species were seen on the Arroyo Gualeguaychfithe last of April, and one was securedthere. Auother
was broughtme fi'om an estanc•anear town on July 2. They
were usually noticed sitting very upright on the tops of tall trees,
whei'e it was almost impossible to get within shot.
•3 x. Buteo erythronotus (/(inff).•Many
were seen on
the I'ampas, April xo and x•, while travelling by diligencefi'om
Carhu(•to Azul.- They fi'equcntlyremainedperchedon the iron
telegraph poles beside the road, allowh•g the coach with its ten
horses to pass at fixll gallop within easy gunshot of them. At
suchtimes the characteristicmarkh•gswere easily distinguishable.
•3 2. Heterospizias meridionalis (Lath.).
(R•msu E•x•m).•Not
unfrcquently seen at Coucepcion in
cold weather, aud a singleone was seenas late as September29.
About July 2x, xS8o.during au almost unprecedentedrise of
the river, many rather scarceHawks becamequite abundantfor a
few days, and amongthem w•rs the present species. A female.
taken July 2•. ,•ppem'edso gorged mith fi)od thai it was easl]v
! IO
BARROWSon Birds of lhe Lower Uruguay.
[April
shot, but an examination showed that though its crop was
crowded to its utmost capacity, it containednothing but young
grasshoppers,not a traceof otherfoodbeing foundin its stomach.
•33' Geranoaetus melanoleucus (Vieill.).
AGUILA
(EA6LE). -- An abundantresidentat all pointsvisited,and not
at all difficult of approach. In ascendingthe Uruguay by
steamerit is one of the most constantfeaturesof the landscape,
sometimes seen sailing in circles overhead, but oftenestsitting
motionlesson the highestbranch of. somedead tree which rises
from the tangled massesof lower growth on the low islands
along the swampyshores. On the Pampasit was fi'equentlyobserved, and oxl the Ventana, where it w.'•s abundant and doubt-
lessnested, it was ridiculouslyfamiliar.
While hunting Partridges one morning, I walked directly up
to one of these Eagles, as he sat on a stone gazing at me,
and when, finally, at a distance of eight or ten yards, he
startedto fly, a chargeof No. 8 shotwas sufficientto stop him.
The same morning another was killed in almost the same way
with No. 6 shot. On March 8, while nearthe Ventana, a pair
wasseenin a plumageentirelynew to me. Seenfi'ombelowthey
were entirely glossyblack, with the exceptionof •he tips of the
tail-feathersand primaries, which were pure white. If this is the
normaladult plumageit must be ,'are,at leastaboutConcepcion,
as I nevermet •vith an exampleof it amoug over a hundred specimensobservedthere. Of the nesting habits I learned nothing,
ex.cept that on the Ventana a pair constantlyresortedto an inaccessibleledgenear the summit, where I believethey musthavehad
a nest. D6ring saysthey nestabundantlyon lhe •round alongthe
Rio Negro of Patagonia, placing the nest usually, however, on
some small eminencealong the bank of the rive,-.
x34, Accipter s•. incog. A femaleof a speciesallied to A.
dqiscuswas taken at Concepcion,.•uly •4, •88o, and another
individual (possiblythe mate) was seen very near the same spot
a few days later.
x35. Falco sparverius Zinn. ALCONCITO(LITTLE FALCON).--A very abundantbird at Concepcion,where a few are
residentand doubtlessbreed,but especiallyplentiibl in spring and
autumn.
I did not see its nest.
A youngfemale taken January2•, I88O, was peculiarin having the ovariesof bothsidesequallydeveloped,thoughbothwere
small.
•884.1
BARROWSon Bircls of the Lower Uruguay.
I I I
This specieswas also abundantat Bahia Bianca and along the
Sierras to Carhu&
x36. Elanus leucurus ( Vieill.).--2k rather scarceresident.
I noted it only about twenty times in the courseof as many
months.
It was oftenest
seen in winter.
x37. Rostrharnus leucopygus (Xibix).--Apparently not
common,as it was only taken twice--both times in summer and
in swampswhere •Imfiullaria abound.
I oncesaw at Concepciona flock of fifteen or twenty small
Hawks hoveringoverthe interior of a swampyisland,and presumethey belong to thisspeciesas they were not "Chimangos,"
and I never saw any other speciescongregatein this way.
x38. Milvago chimango (Vieill.).
Cma{ANoo.-- By far
the mostabundantof the birds of prey, it being no unusualthing
to have thirty r•r forty in sight at once. They take the placeof
our Crows,walking aboutin the plowedfields,collectingaround
the slaughter-houses
or any dead animal in the fields, hauntingthe
marginsof the rivers, and keeping an eye on all exposedbird's
nests. They areveryunsuspicious,
and being seldomshotat, may
be approached,at ahnostany time and place, withoutany precautions. They are credited(doubtlesscorrectly) by some writers
with nestingon the ground, but this does not seem to be true of
them at Concepcion.I inquiredcarefullyof the natives,and was
invariably told that they nested"like tl•e Carrancho,"in trees.
On September26, I saw a pair carrying sticks to a tree in
which there was a partly completednest, but the birds dropped
the stickson finding themselvesobserved. Again on November
6, I fonnd in a tree a nest of sticks in which were the shells of
several eggs preciselylike thosebroughtme by natives as veritableeggsof the Chimango,as I believetheywere.
Consideringthe abundanceof the birds, and their familiarity,
it seemedstrange to me that althoughI frequentlysearchedin
many localities, both on the ground and in trees, I never discoveredan occupiednestof this species. As beforestated,however, during the spring monthsI was often unable to give more
than half a day per week to field work, and this will, perhaps,ac-
count for many oversightswith regard even to commonbirds.
The eggswhich I obtained were miniatures of thoseof the following species.
x39. Polyborus tharus (Mol.). CAI•I•XNCX•O
(meaningunknown). -- Abundant and well known everywhere.but appearing
I I2
BARROWSon B/rds of/he ].ower Uru•ua.t,.
[April
in unusual nmnbers wherever the food supply is suddenlyincreased, as for exumple, during those periodic overflows of the
river to xvhich the name crec/etzz'eis given. W-hen the rise is
quite sudden the destructionof small quadrupeds is very great,
and the Carrauchosare very sureto be on hand. The regu.lar
crecie•zz'eoccurs usually in October, and the river then rises
graduallyto a heightof five or six feet aboveits usualmark, and
in the courseof a xveekor two, subsides
againquietly. In July,
'x88o, however, the river rose quite suddenlyuntil it reached a
pointsome't•velve
feet abovelow-watermark. As a resulthundreds of square miles of low laud were flooded,and 'in many
placesthe water extendedback•vard ulongthe smaller affluents
for many miles, doing considerabledamage to stock, etc. Of
coursethere was n general exodusof • all four-footedbeasts and
creepingthings"fi'om the flooded district. Along tile edge of
the water thousands of the little caries scampered in dismay,
•vhile the bodiesof thousandsof others were thrown up to the
ßwaiting Carranches,•vhich stalkedalong the shoreby bundreds.
Wild cattlewhich had been hiding for years in the swampswere
now forced to come ashore and take their turn under the lazo,
while manya rare deer and rarer jaguar fell victim to tile rifle of
the estunciero. For a week or two the unequal strugglexventon.
and then the receding waters allowed the survivors to return to
their old haunts, if they could find them, while the estanciero
quletly.couutedhis bundlesof new hides and •vishedthe river
would rise every year to tile sameheight.
While the high •vater lasted the Carranches,gorged with
carrion, and naturally heavy and sluggish,were almostas rayne
as barn-yardfowls, andtherewas abundantopportunity for any
one so disposedto studytheir disgustinghabks and make his
seriesof skinsas large as he pleased. 1 respectfull)-declinedthe
ofibr, sofar as the skins were concerned,preferring to keep my
entomologicaland ornithologicalcollectionsseparateso far as
practicable.
.Althoughfeedingfi'equeutlyon ca•-rion,the birdsevidentlyap- preciatefi-eshmeataswell. I once had hard work to preventa
Teal, which had fallen in thewater, from beingcarried oil'by one,
and thoughI did succeed
in this caseI •vaslessfortuaateat other
times. }Vhile shootingDucks alongthc Piqu• in March I killed
a beautifulpair of Cinnamon'Peal.andwishingto keepthemclean
•s,%.
BAt•t•owso, th'rd.,g/ lhe Lower
and unruffled, to be skinned later, I laid them somewhat out of
sight amongthe pampas grass,intendingto take them on.my return in half an hour.. At that time, however. I found only a
coupleof Carranchos,eachseatedsleepilyin the midst of a little
circle of brown feathers,amongstwhich not the smallestmorselof
skin, flesh, or bone was to be found.
The eggswere laid at Concepcionfrom the middle of September until late in November. They vary very much in color, but
the averageegg showed little trace of the original ground-color,
being simply mottled 5vith heavydashes,spots,and blotchesot
several shadesof brosvn. Eggs average z.} in. by •} in. The
bulky nestswere sometimesplaced quite low on the tops of low,
spreadingtrees,one which I foundbeingonly eight feet from the
ground. More often, however. the nest is placedat a heightof
fi'om twenty to forty feet.
t4o. Cathartes atratus (]5'artr.). CuEttvo (CRoxv).--Not
seenat all at Conception,but said to have been very numerous
in times of drought,when the sheepdied fasterthan they could be
skinned. It was occasionallyseen in small numbers about the
Sierrasof the Pampas,the lastbeing seenat Carhu6•:5,pril 4'
On the Uruguayit wasalwaysspokenof asthe Cuervo(Crow;
Raven), but about BuenosAires the commoner name was Ga//œnaza (Vulture).
NOTVZ.-
1 am not sure that I ever saw Cathartes aura, not
beingfamiliar with its appearanceon the wing, but I find the
followingin my note-book,under dateof March 4, t88o, while
campedat the foot of the Sierra de la Ventana.
';Several times since camping here, I have seena very large
bird xvhichseemsto be larger in body than the common Eagle
(G. melanoleucus)and with a very long tail. They hunt over
the mountains as well as the level ground, and rise in spirals
nearlyas well as [[a/iaelus." l• remember,that when attacked
by a pair of the latter, which probablyhad an eyrie amongthe
crags near by, they soon distancedthem by rising in spirals,
thoughboth speciesdid considerable
flappingbeforethe Eagles
abandonedthe pursuit. I thought at the time, and am still inclined to believe.
that this bird was Cal•artes
( To be con•int•ed.)