Volume Ii Part 17 (1/2)

They are slightly larger than those of the Turkey-Buzzard, although the latter is a bigger bird. The ground-colour is of a yellowish white, with blotches of dark reddish brown, and smaller markings of a lilac shade.

These markings are generally more numerous at the larger end.”

313. SARCORHAMPHUS GRYPHUS (Linn.).

(GREAT CONDOR.)

+Sarcorhamphus gryphus+, _Darwin, Zool. Beagle_, iii. p. 1 (Rio Negro); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 123; _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 433 (Cordova); _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 40 (Chupat), et 1878, p. 398 (Central Patagonia).

_Description._--General plumage glossy black; greater wing-coverts margined with ashy; neck-ruff white; head, neck, and centre of chest bare; head, with a large caruncle, black; throat wattled; chest with a pendent wattle: whole length 380 inches, wing 290, tail 140.

_Female_ similar, but without the wattles on the head and neck.

_Hab._ Andes of South America, and adjacent ranges in La Plata.

Dr. Burmeister tells us that he has seen the Condor in the Sierras of Cordova and Aconquija, though it is more prevalent in the districts of the Western Cordillera.

In the territory of Chupat, Durnford met with it at Ninfas Point in November, and tells us that when the colonists are hunting in the neighbourhood of the sea-coast the Condor is the first of the bird-scavengers to make its appearance after game has been killed.

During his subsequent excursion to the Sengel river in the interior, the Condor was commonly observed throughout the journey wherever the rocks were high and steep. Several pairs were noticed nesting on Nov. 16th, but the nests could not be reached.

My own experience of the Condor is restricted in seeing one individual, flying above the sea-sh.o.r.e, south of the Rio Negro.

Order VIII. STEGANOPODES.

Fam. x.x.xIV. PHALACROCORACIDae, or CORMORANTS.

The only family of the Steganopodes that can at present be inserted in the Argentine list is that of the Cormorants, though doubtless other forms of this Order (_Sula_, _Phaethon_, and _Fregata_) will be hereafter found to occur on the coast with more or less frequency.

One Cormorant only has yet been positively determined as occurring within the Argentina area.

314. PHALACROCORAX BRASILIa.n.u.s (Gm.).

(BRAZILIAN CORMORANT.)

+Phalacrocorax brasilia.n.u.s+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 124; _iid.

P. Z. S._ 1868, p. 146 (Buenos Ayres); _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p.

188 (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p. 399 (Patagonia); _White, P. Z.

S._ 1882, p. 624 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 270 (Entrerios). +Haliaeus brasilia.n.u.s+, _Burm. Syst. Ueb._ iii. p.

460; _id. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 520 (Rio Parana).

_Description._--Black; feathers edged with metallic green; bill and naked skin of the face yellow: whole length 300 inches, wing 120, tail 60. _Female_ similar. _Young_ brown; chin and cheeks whitish; neck greyish, with the tips of the feathers black; breast white, with blackish-brown mottlings; belly black.

_Hab._ Sea-coasts and inland waters of Central and South America.

This appears to be the only Cormorant met with on the coasts and inland waters of South America north of Buenos Ayres; but two other species are found in Southern Chili and Patagonia, which may probably likewise occur in the southern provinces of the Republic[3].