——, Jardine’s Wilson, vol. iii. p. 226.
Vultur jota, Molina, Compendio de la Hist. 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 migratory 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 Jote, in Peru, in the West Indies; and, according to Wilson, it remains even during winter, in New Jersey and Delaware, latitude 40°. It and one of the family of Polyborinæ 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 are migratory, like those of the northern hemisphere? In a female specimen killed there, the skin of the head was intermediate in colour between “scarlet and cochineal red,”[[5]] and the iris dark coloured. D’Orbigny describes the iris as being bright scarlet; whilst Azara says it is “jaune léger. 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 C. 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 Vultur jota is naked, and covered only with a wrinkled and reddish (roxiza) skin.
Family—FALCONIDÆ.
Sub-Fam. POLYBORINÆ, Swains.
(Caracaridæ, D’Orbigny.)
Polyborus Brasiliensis. Swains.
Polyborus vulgaris, Vieillot.
Falco Brasiliensis Auctorum; Caracara of Azara; Tharu of Molina; and Carrancha of the inhabitants of La Plata.