If a
party of men go out hunting with dogs and horses, they will be
accompanied, during the day, by several of these attendants. After
feeding, the uncovered craw protrudes; at such times, and indeed
generally, the Carrancha is an inactive, tame, and cowardly bird.
Its flight is heavy and slow, like that of an English rook. It
seldom soars; but I have twice seen one at a great height gliding
through the air with much ease. It runs (in contradistinction to
hopping), but not quite so quickly as some of its congeners. At
times the Carrancha is noisy, but is not generally so: its cry is
loud, very harsh and peculiar, and may be likened to the sound of
the Spanish guttural g, followed by a rough double r r; when
uttering this cry it elevates its head higher and higher, till at
last, with its beak wide open, the crown almost touches the lower
part of the back. This fact, which has been doubted, is quite true;
I have seen them several times with their heads backwards in a
completely inverted position. To these observations I may add, on
the high authority of Azara, that the Carrancha feeds on worms,
shells, slugs, grasshoppers, and frogs; that it destroys young
lambs by tearing the umbilical cord; and that it pursues the
Gallinazo, till that bird is compelled to vomit up the carrion it
may have recently gorged.
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