634 EAPTOEES, OE BIEDS OF PREY. 



These birds were once far more plentiful in Europe than 

 now. The reason of this is the great havoc which was made among 

 them in the last century. Even at the present day pursuit of 

 them is encouraged by the grant of a reward for each indi- 

 vidual killed. The number of eggs they lay being limited (two), 

 there is but little cause for surprise that the species is very 

 sensibly diminishing. 



In the birds which belong to the Sarcoramphus family the base 

 of the bill is furnished with a ring of long feathers, and the bill 

 itself is surmounted with a thick and scalloped fleshy crest; from 

 this peculiarity of organisation they derive their name, the signih- 

 cation of Sarcoramphus being " fleshy-billed." 



This genus comprises but two species, the Condor {Sarco- 

 ramphus gryphus, Dumeril) and the King Vulture {Sarcoramphus 

 papa). 



The CoNDoii (from the word Cuntur, in the Peruvian language), 

 Fig. 301, commonly called the Great Vulture of the Andes, is the 

 most remarkable species of the Vulture famil}', both for its size and 

 strength, and also for the vast extent of the stretch of its wings. 

 Its plumage is of a dark blue, approaching to black; its collar, 

 which occupies only the back and sides of the neck, is formed of 

 a dazzling white down. Its crest, bevelled off at the edge, is 

 cartilaginous in its nature, and of a bluish colour, and extends down 

 the side of the neck in two fleshy strings. Lastly, the male 

 has two fleshy appendages under the lower mandible, level with 

 the collar. The wings are as long as the tail, their whole develop- 

 ment being ten or twelve feet. The length of the bird from the 

 point of the bill to the tip of the tail is on an average about four 

 feet. 



The chief habitat of the Condor is the western slope of the chain 

 of the Andes, in Bolivia, Peru, and Chili ; it frequents all the 

 different altitudes, from the burning sands of the sea-coast to the 

 ice-bound solitudes of perpetual snow. Humboldt and Bonjoland, 

 when exploring the Andes, repeatedly noticed Condors close round 

 them when at a height of 15,700 feet above the level of the sea. 

 D'Orbigny saw them as high up as the summit of Illimani, a 

 height of 24,600 feet ; and he likewise met with them on the coasts 

 of Peru and Patagonia, seeking their food among the various 



