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BooK
VJII.
·
Royal
COJnmentaries.
Bi...ds
vvhich
are black called by the
Indians
Fuyur.tu,and
by the
Spaniardf GaUintt·
~a
L;
they are great
de~ourers
of Fleili, and
fo ra~en~us~
that
if
they find any car–
rion deJd in the Fields, they gorge themfelves
with it
to
fuch a
degree, that they
are
not
able
to
fly;
and
when they
find
themfelves
in
that
condic\on purfued
by
Men, they run away on their legs, helping their
fligh~ \~ich
the
fluttering of
their
Wing,
vomiting up all their meat as they run; that it
1~ pleafa~t
to obferve how
th
y
(pue up thei_r
prey
with
the
fame
eagernefs
as
that with which.they
devoured
it:
Howfuever,
if
they
are
hardly
p'urfued,
they may
be
taken
and killed;
butMen
f;
)rbear
to
defiroy
them,
confidering that they
are
not good
for
meat ;
and
being
a
filly
Bird, doth no hurt, but onely ferves
to
dev.our
carrion, and
cleanfe the frreets
and wa) s
from filthinefs.
Acofta
is
of
an
opinion that
it
is
a
fort
of Crow.
There
is a
fort
of
Sea-Birds
which refomble
thefe,
fuch
as
the
Spaniards
call
Alca–
tra~es~
( in Engli(h Sea-Mews)
they
are lefs
than
Buftards;
they
Jive upon
Filh ,
and
it
is
pleafant
to
fee
how
rhey
take them. At
certain
hours
of
the
Morning
or
Evening,
when the
Fifu
ufually
play
and rife
upon
the
furface
of
the
water,
which
are
me rimes
al(o that
thefe
Birds are
mofr
hungry;
they raife themfelves
high upon rhe Wing,
from
whence
obferving
where the
Fifu
move,
they
~laI?
their
Wings dofe, and fall
with fuch
a foop,
like
aHawk, that
they
never
mifs
of
rh~ir
prey;
and
fornetimes
dive with
fuch
agllicy
under
water, following the iboals of
Fiib, that they arife again with
their
prey crof!ed
in
their
beak
5
and
then
moun–
ting
in the
Air,
devour the
Fiili,
and then
try
for
others.
It
is
very
pleafanc to
fee them fioop, and give blows upon the
water, and
dive
into
it,
others to be ac
the
I
fame time
in
the Air, watching
their
opportunity; others having miffed their firoke,
to
rife again :
In
(bort,
to
fee at
the
fame
time
zoo
Hawks fiooping,
and mouri–
ting, like
the Hammers
of
an
Iron
Mill.
Befides
thefe, there are flocks
of
Sea–
birds of
a leffer
fort;
howfoever, fome are greater, and
fome
are lefs; but
in
fuch
incredible
numbers, that they
will
fometimes cove- the
Sea
of
Zur
for two or
three
Leagues
in
length ,
and
Ry
fo
dofe
together,
that for
fuch
a
compafs they even
darken
the
Sky :
And hereby
we
m::y
admire
the Providence of the Eternal
Ma–
jefi:y,
who hath
created
filch a multitude
of Creatures, and therewith
a fufficient
provifion
of
Fi!h,
wherewith
to fupporc
and maintain them.
And
thus
much
for
Sea·
fowl.
Now as to Water-fowl which
belong
to
Rivers and Lakes
in
Peru,
.they are
in
great numbers;
fuch as Herons,
Wild-ducks,
and
Bran-geefe,
and
thofe
which
we
call hovelers ;
befide
many
thers of a different kind, which we cannot
exattly
de
cribe, by reafon that we have not obferved their variety with due attention:
T~ey
have
alfo
Swans which live upon Fifh, and are
very
~
hite, without any
m1xt~re ·of_
black_; they have long legs, very beautifull, and go
always
in
couples,
or
pairs,
but are m no great
number.
!
C H
AP.
335