The provinces of Cordoba and Santa Fé are the home of many beautiful birds. One of the most gorgeous of humming-birds is to be found here. Its body is green streaked with gold, with a vivid scarlet tail. A common song bird is the bien te veo (I see you well), so named because its song is supposed to represent those words. The call, which is an extremely musical one, is repeated over and over again. It is brightly coloured and is a species of thrush. The oven-bird is a favourite bird and is looked upon much as the robin with us. It is chiefly remarkable for its nest, which is built of mud and is entered by a doorway. The nests are usually built upon any convenient post, and in places one will find half of the telephone and telegraph posts surmounted by one of these nests. It is a common saying that the oven-bird will not, under any consideration, build its nest on a Sunday.
There are many birds of the vulture tribe in Argentina. Patagonia is especially a wonderful country for these birds of prey. Of these the chinango is a small carrion-hawk of a brown-gray colour. Another is the carancho, which is very common throughout the Camp. This bird is a dark brown with a light band across the wings. These two birds prefer carrion, but will attack enfeebled and helpless small animals such as hares or lambs.
“Next comes the condor, awful bird,
On the mountains’ highest tops,
Has been known to eat up boys and girls
And then to lick its chops.”
Thus runs the nursery rhyme about the chief of the larger army of the vulture tribe, which is common in the states adjacent to the Andes. Seen against the pale blue of the sky, swerving in graceful circles at a great height amidst the inner solitudes of the Andine peaks, its stately flight and grand spread of motionless wing make it seem like a noble bird. On a nearer view it shares the repulsive appearance of all birds that feed on dead animal flesh. Eagles are scarce in the Andes, and the condors take their place. They are difficult to approach unless they are gorged so that they cannot fly. Their size is enormous. One writer tells of killing one in Patagonia that measured nine feet, three inches across the outstretched pinions, and some of even greater size are reported. They are sometimes four feet long from tip of beak to tail. They hatch their young amid the snow-covered crags at an altitude of twenty thousand feet, so it is said, for they can endure a temperature which renders human existence impossible.
These birds, which fly so high that they become mere specks on the intense blue of the skies, exceed the vulture in their ability to discover a dead carcass. It has been said that they will follow a mule train a long distance waiting for a disabled animal to be left behind. If a sick animal, large or small, is found they will immediately pluck out the eyes, and then wait for the animal to die before eating it. They fly so high that it is impossible to shoot them, and the only way to kill the condor is to place a dead animal as a decoy and then lay in ambush until the birds appear. It is one thing to admire these birds wheeling in graceful circles on quiescent wing, but it would be quite another for the lonely and helpless traveller out among the hills where no help was near. Long before aid could come this powerful and unscrupulous bird might discover the helpless one. These gigantic birds have been tamed when captured at a sufficiently early age. Some have found them interesting pets, but their immense size soon makes their presence very undesirable around the house and farmyard.
Argentina is undoubtedly rich in mineral deposits which have as yet scarcely been touched. All along the Andes, from Bolivia, herself extremely rich in the precious metals, to Tierra del Fuego, traces of silver, gold and copper have been found. The indifference to the exploitation of this mineral wealth may be due to the lack of available capital, the difficulties of transportation of the ore and the scarcity of fuel in the mineral zones of the country. The exports of all minerals do not reach half a million dollars yearly, of which copper is one of the principal items. The early history of the country records a story of marvellous wealth dug from the earth. The future may have a still greater story to tell. The workings of many of these earlier mines have been absolutely lost. The locations of mines from which fabulous wealth was wrung are unknown to-day. Some of these mines date back to the early conquerors, and others to the Incas themselves, who overran this section of the country. Ancient bronze instruments of that race have been found here, giving indisputable evidence of that fact, although it is doubtful if they ever had a permanent abode in these mountains. The Indians used to bring tributes of gold to the priests, but would not reveal the site of the hidden mines.
The principal mines of Argentina, that are being worked to-day, are in the provinces of Rioja and Catamarca, in the northwestern part of the republic, and in Mendoza. The most important are undoubtedly the Famatima copper mines of Rioja. The government has recently constructed a wonderful aerial wire ropeway here which is really a marvel and has greatly aided in transporting the metals. The main ropeway is nearly twenty-five miles in length, with its highest terminal nearly fourteen thousand feet above sea level. Power is available for control and to assist the upward traffic. One span of this wonderful ropeway is half a mile in length where it cuts across a deep valley.