The CHIMANGO (_Milvago Chimachima_) is one of the most extensively
distributed species of this family. The formation of its body is
slender, its head large, the wings long and pointed; in the latter the
fourth quill exceeds the rest in length. The tail is of moderate size,
and slightly rounded; the legs high, slender, and the tarsi sparsely
feathered; the toes are long, and armed with very sharp hooked talons;
the beak is slender, and terminates in a short hook; the cere is broad,
and projects beyond the well-developed nostrils, which are surrounded
by a kind of ridge; the throat is but slightly covered with feathers;
the bridles and region of the eyes are bare. Dirty white predominates
in the plumage of the adult male; the wings, tail, back, and a streak
above the eyes that extends to the nape are dark brown; the four exterior
quills are white in the middle, and marked with dark spots, thus forming
an irregular white line; the other quills are yellowish white at their
origin, and streaked with black; the upper portion being blackish brown.
The tail-feathers are white, tipped and striped three times with blackish
brown. The eye is greyish brown, the beak pale blueish white, brightest
towards its tip; the cheek-stripes, cere, eyelids, and a small place
round the eye, and the chin are orange colour; the feet are pale blue.
But little difference is perceptible in the plumage of the male and
female. In the young birds the top of the head and cheeks are dark brown,
the sides and back of the neck yellowish white, spotted with brown; the
back is dark brown, and some of the feathers are bordered with red. The
wing-covers are striped with two shades of brown, the throat is dirty
white, the breast blackish brown, each feather being streaked with
yellow; the belly is yellowish. The length of this species is fourteen
inches and a half, its breadth thirty-one inches; the wing measures about
ten, and the tail six inches. The female is a trifle larger than her mate.
The Chimangos inhabit almost the whole of South America, and throughout
that continent are met with in great numbers; pasture lands or large
open tracts are their favourite resorts, and, if not molested, they will
congregate around and upon the houses of the natives; Boeck mentions
having often seen them perching in crowds on the roofs, or following the
ploughman up and down the fields. They rarely frequent mountains, and
then only to a limited height; but at times they are casual visitors to
the sea-coast. When upon the ground the Chimango moves with dignified
ease, and regards all such as approach it with a proud glance of its
eye, that would lead us to imagine its intelligence superior to its
position in the economy of Nature. Its flight is far from rapid, and it
seldom rises high into the air. According to the Prince von Wied, these
birds are never seen flying peaceably about in parties, but exhibit on
all occasions such a decided love of quarrelling and strife that even a
chance meeting between two of them, if strangers to each other, is likely
to be followed by a furious battle. No other Birds of Prey will eat such
various kinds of food as are ordinarily devoured by the Chimango, to
whose voracious appetite it would seem that nothing comes amiss, even
down to the merest refuse from the kitchens of the natives; it much
enjoys potatoes, and not only abstracts them from the houses, but will
dig them up immediately after it has seen them planted. Of all the hungry
crew by which the dead body of a horse or cow is invariably surrounded,
this bird is always the last to leave the well-picked bones, and may
often be seen, long after the rest have deserted it, running up and
down within the skeleton, in the hope of finding an as yet undiscovered
morsel; it eagerly devours worms, larvæ, snails, reptiles, fishes, birds,
and small quadrupeds, besides a great variety of other articles of food
gleaned from the sea-coast. The voice of the Chimango is extremely harsh
and shrill. The breeding season commences in September. The eyrie, which
is built upon a tree, is a large shallow structure formed of branches,
twigs, and roots. The brood consists of five or six very round eggs, of
a reddish or light brown-grey colour, marked with irregularly disposed
spots of red or brown, which lie closest at the broad end. During the
period of incubation the Chimango is somewhat less quarrelsome towards
its associates than at other seasons of the year, and exhibits great
affection for its young.