THE LARGEST LIVING CREATURES I43 



The condor of the Andes is the bulkiest of the flying birds 

 on land, 4 feet in length with a maximum extent of 9 feet 9 

 inches, according to an unpublished record given me by Dr. 

 Wetmore. One that Darwin shot measured 8 feet 6 inches in 

 expanse, and the bird probably never reaches quite 10 feet in 

 spite of the numerous reports exceeding this. 



The Californian condor of our own western mountains has 

 just about the same expanse of wing as the South American 

 condor, but it is a somewhat lighter and more slender bird. 



Compare these birds with Princess Helen's hummingbird of 

 Cuba, the smallest of the birds, 2 9/16 inches in total length, 

 or without the bill and tail i 1/4 inches. 



It is very difficult to get accurate information on the largest 

 reptiles, since these are rarely measured carefully, and there is 

 much temptation to exaggeration. 



There are many references to snakes, pythons and boas, 

 of between 40 and 50 feet in length which have been killed in 

 the Malay region, Sumatra, Borneo and the Philippines, and 

 also in Africa. The largest pythons as we know them now are 

 from 18 to 20, occasionally even somewhat over 30, feet in 

 length, though such enormous snakes are very rare. But there 

 is no reason to believe that in the past when such huge snakes 

 were not molested they did not grow, at least sometimes, to 

 more than 40 feet. 



The maximum accurate measurement of a snake is of a South 

 American anaconda that reached 14 meters, or nearly 47 feet, 

 while another measured 13 meters, or over 43, so I am informed 

 by Dr. Afranio do Amaral. These giants were from the unin- 

 habited region north of the Matto Grosso; elsewhere in Brazil 

 they are rarely half as large. Huge individuals have been men- 

 tioned from the Guianas; one 36 feet in length was killed in 

 Berbice which is said now to be in the Museum at the Hague. 



The bulkiest of the poisonous snakes is the diamond backed 

 rattler of our southern states, which reaches 8 feet 8 inches — 

 stretched skins are of course much longer. One of the cobras 

 is of greater length, up to 16 feet, but it is very slender. 



